


La Vie en Rose

by frostmoongoddess



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Song Lyrics, first fic, has nobody really used this song for a long fic?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2019-08-09 14:50:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16451963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frostmoongoddess/pseuds/frostmoongoddess
Summary: Why is Ladybug’s favorite color pink when her outfit is almost entirely red? Marinette has to laugh to herself watching Alya go crazy over that question for years. As Adrien becomes further isolated from his friends, Marinette’s intense crush subsides — but that doesn’t mean it goes away entirely.A shadow falls over Paris right when its brightest light rises. After suddenly disappearing for three years, Cat Noir returns to the team as if nothing happened, which upsets Ladybug and stirs emotions within her that she didn’t know existed. The akumatized victims grow more aggressive, and the shadow seems to practically bite at their ankles.Adrien discovers a new rival for his friends, his family, and his succession to his father’s fashion line: an old yet new face…





	1. Des Yeux Qui Font Baisser les Miens

It was a song that rivaled _La Marseillaise_ for the national anthem of France. It felt as though nobody ever actually learned the lyrics; it just became ingrained into the back of every French citizen’s mind. It was a melody that could melt and break hearts all at the same time.

Marinette had to only be a toddler when she first heard the song and instantly fell in love with it. She could only understand one word then: _rose._  Her parents would often tell her that she’d start swinging and spinning clumsily in her diapers whenever the song came on, to which she’d protest when they laughed. She wanted everything she owned to be pink, and her wish was granted — but something was still missing... As she grew older and understood the lyrics of the song more and more, she yearned to find somebody that made her feel like _that song._ Eyes that made her own lower, a laugh that lost itself on his lips, an unretouched portrait of a man to whom she belonged…

* * *

 

On her last day at _Collège_ _Françoise Dupont,_ Marinette stepped outside and was greeted with a startling heat wave. She could feel the sweat begin to bead on her forehead already. She really hoped the boxed confections she held would survive the trip across the street — its two obstacles: the heat and Marinette’s own clumsiness. Today was not going to be a day of education but rather a day of celebration and a few farewells.

“Marinette!” A voice caused Marinette to turn her head.

She only realized then that she made it all the way to the front steps of the school — and the box was still intact!

“Alya!” Marinette felt the smile stretch across her lips automatically upon the sight of her best friend.

Alya was walking, carrying a big pot of sorts; Nino, her boyfriends, helped her by lifting the opposite side of the pot.

“Whoa! What’s that?” Marinette asked, smelling a spicy aroma that made her mouth water instantly. “Smells delicious!”

“It’s my mom’s famous gumbo!” Alya beamed. “It’s a specialty on the menu at _Le Grand Paris_!”

“ _And_ we get it for free!” Nino added with a mischievous glint in his eyes and smile.

“Do you need any help?” Marinette offered.

“No, thanks, girl,” Alya responded with a laugh. “Looks like you already got your hands full!”

Marinette looked down at the box in her hands with her parents’ bakery logo elegantly painted along the top and sides. She gave a sheepish giggle. The three friends walked into the school and into Ms. Bustier’s classroom, where everybody was preparing for their end-of-year party. Nino and Alya practically threw the massive pot of gumbo onto the foldable tables covered with plastic tablecloth. Marinette, relieved to finally make it somewhere without sending baked goods flying everywhere, sighed as she placed the box in the _de facto_ dessert section.

“Huh, where are the plates?” Marinette wondered out loud, glancing up and down the makeshift buffet tables.

“Ah, _zut*!”_ Somebody — Marinette pinpointed as Max — slapped his hand to his forehead right as he was hanging up streamers. “Sorry, Kim and I were in charge of silverware, but we left it in the cafeteria kitchens!”

“No worries!” Marinette said merrily, waving her hands before her as if to dismiss Max’s apology. “I can get it!”

“ _We_ will get it!” Alya added with a wink, linking arms with her best friend; the two friends giggled before marching out.

It was a quick trip down the stairs and into the cafeteria. Alya carried bags of plastic bowls and plates while Marinette balanced bags of square napkins atop a special case of assorted silverware.

_‘It’s not_ really _silver...I guess...plastic-ware?’_ Marinette mused to herself.

Suddenly, right as Marinette and Alya reached the top of the stairs on their return trip, an ear-piercing screech filled the entire school and nearly caused everybody to freeze in their tracks. Marinette almost toppled backwards, but Alya managed to use her feet to pull Marinette forward.

The two friends exchanged concerned yet curious glances, immediately recognizing the exclamation as Chloe’s, and ran to their homeroom class. It was a familiar sight: the whole classroom — solemn — surrounding a slumped, despondent Chloe while Sabrina tried to do something — _anything —_ to get Chloe up.

Marinette recalled when she had taken the Miraculous spellbook and Adrien’s subsequent punishment for losing that book since it had belonged to Gabriel Agreste. In fact, this moment matched that memory perfectly.

“Is it Adrien?” Alya asked Nino.

“Who else would it be?” Nino responded in a hushed voice. “Adrien’s not gonna go to the same _lycée_ as we are, not anymore. HIs dad’s sending him off to some private, all-boys-place all the way across Paris.”

Marinette’s heart crashed to her knees, and it almost dragged her to the ground with it. Why, oh _why,_ did Gabriel Agreste have to be so hard on his son? Sure, she understood that parents fear their baby birds flying the nest, but how would Adrien ever be able to fly like this? 

A much more calmer, logical part of her brain began to speak...and it sounded a lot like Tikki.

_'After that big event with the Scarlet supervillains and the big moth, would you really blame Gabriel Agreste for wanting to protect his son? Especially when getting Adrien to go to school was very hard as is? Plus, the feather —'_

Nino’s phone buzzed, and he looked down at it. Everybody’s heads turned to him; Chloe sat straight up, eager to hear what news of Adrien came.

“Adrien says...he’s gonna go to as many events in _lycée_ of ours as he can! And he’s gonna tell us all of his events so we can go to him!” Nino’s face lit up as he read and announced every word.

The class erupted into cheers. Marinette noticed that Chloe opened her mouth and frowned momentarily, as if that wouldn’t be enough for her. However, their eyes locked. Marinette almost wanted to cringe, but she saw Chloe’s gaze soften and her mouth close.

...What was _that_ all about?

Marinette could see the Bee Miraculous, hidden as a comb, still in Chloe’s flaxen ponytail. Marinette smiled to herself a little; she was right, Chloe _was_ changing for the better. Marinette then looked to Alya and Nino, the latter with an arm around the former’s shoulders. The Turtle Miraculous, disguised as a carved jade bracelet, hung off Nino’s wrist. Luckily, Alya’s ombre hair hid it from view. The tip of the Fox Miraculous peeked out from underneath Alya’s plaid shirt collar. Marinette took a deep breath in, feeling more reassured and more at ease.

The class proceeded to prepare for their end-of-school party, the atmosphere in the classroom a little heavier now. Everybody — even Chloe — brought food and a gift for Miss Bustier. Marinette unfolded her box of macarons — specially made for every single person in her class. However, as the day and party went on, no matter how sweet the desserts were, no matter how much Marinette tried to stretch her smiles wide, she couldn’t stop the giant weight in her heart from dragging down everything in her body.

At the end of the day, only one macaron remained in the box: a mint-chocolate flavored one meant for Adrien. Marinette sighed, closing the box. When she got home that day, she carefully wrapped the single macaron in a single sheet of matching mint-green tissue paper and placed it in a tiny, single-serve macaron box.

“You sure about this, Marinette?” Tikki the tiny kwami of creation asked innocently. “I could always use the extra sugar, you know!”

“Of course, I am,” Marinette confirmed confidently. “I’m a _lycée_ student now. I can’t _always_ be waiting for Adrien to notice me. I let it get away with the scarf, but no more! And besides, I think I’ve given you enough sweets for today! The whole week, even!”

The two of them giggled before it was back to playful business.

On a blank business card, Marinette tried to write as elegantly as she could:

_“We missed you at the party today! Can’t wait to see you again soon!”_

Marinette teetered on writing _“Love, Marinette,”_ but she ultimately decided against it, thinking a proper closing would be too much for such a simple note. Instead, she racked the courage to draw a quick heart and her name beside it before placing it in the box. She urged Tikki into her purse, placing the macaron box with her. Tikki hugged the box as Marinette closed her purse. From there, Marinette walked back out into the unusually hot Parisian street (even hotter than this morning since the city had time to bake during the day) and to the Agreste mansion. Even that building demanded reverence; Marinette grew more hesitant to place the box into the high-tech mailbox. Tikki, peeking out from the purse, held up the macaron box. She rang the doorbell, and the Agreste assistant — Nathalie, Marinette recalled Adrien saying one day — answered.

_“Yes?”_ came the voice through the speaker. Marinette could almost feel the cold glare through that camera eyeballing her.

“Uhhh…hi! I’m Adrien’s friend, Marinette. I’m just here to drop off a quick present for him since he wasn’t in school today to get it!”

_“Of course. Thank you. Please drop it off on the box. I’ll be sure to give it to him.”_

“Okay, thanks! Have a great day!”

The embedded metal mailbox jutted out, allowing Marinette to place the gift inside before it receded back into the smooth stone wall. The camera also retreated, and Marinette was officially left alone. As Marinette began to make her way back home, Tikki congratulated Marinette on being able to speak so calmly, so strongly.

“Yeah, if only I could really speak like that to Adrien,” Marinette sighed.

“But, Marinette, how do you know that Adrien likes mint?” Tikki asked.

“I don’t,” Marinette admitted. “I only chose mint because it matches his eyes.”

“Aww, Marinette!” Tikki cooed. “No macaron in the world can be as sweet as you.”

“Nor you,” Marinette said with a smile, reaching into her purse to pet Tikki’s little forehead.

She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a strawberry macaron with white spots all over it — just for Tikki. The red kwami's indigo eyes widened and lit up with joy as she ate the whole thing in two bites.

* * *

 

_“Go, Adrien!”_ Marinette screeched. _“Boo!”_

Her cheers harmonized with the squeaking of basketball shoes on the hardwood floors. Marinette felt kind of bad for the visiting team’s side of the gym; they looked empty compared to the home side, the _Lycée Privé Gregroire de Fronsac**._ Adrien’s new school’s mascot was the wolf: _le loup._ It was a tradition that rather than cheer for _les loups,_ the supporters would jeer*** instead. It was new to the students at the _Lycée Monet St. Croix**,_ the public high school where the students of _Collège_   _Françoise Dupont_ went — and where Adrien _should_ have gone, had it not been for the overbearing Gabriel Agreste.

It was their first year of _lycée,_ and they were already past the first semester. Without Adrien, things in school felt...strange? No, that wasn’t the right word…

Quiet. As if Adrien took away all the life, the light in the former _Françoise Dupont_ students. Yet today, that life sparked again with this basketball game — and this gym was definitely _not_ quiet.

Marinette noticed how the other team would accidentally start cheering for Adrien at times. Strangely (or maybe fortunately), Adrien was not the team captain; some guy by the name _Corbeille****_ was. It didn’t matter, though; the wolves were winning and had gained quite a lead! With only three minutes, the wolves were leading 78-76!

As much as Marinette wanted to embroider her own wolf logo shirt, Alya and Nino calmed her down, giving her a simple flag to wave around — and _boy_ did she wave that little yellow flag with the snarling wolf face.

“Ya know, maybe we should’ve given her a windmill,” Marinette heard Alya joking to Nino at some point during the game.

“Totally. She’d give us enough power for the whole city of Paris for a _year,”_ Nino added, the couple immediately bursting into snickers. “And with Chloe, I’m scared they’re gonna make a whole-ass _tornado!”_

Marinette peeked down at Chloe and Sabrina on the front row, dead center of the bleachers. Marinette had to admit, Chloe would make a good cheerleader.

“Go, Adri-kins! Boo!” Chloe exclaimed, doing some rather graceful yet exciting moves on the sidelines.

Sabrina squeaked a suggestion to Chloe, who then gasped in awe. Marinette, Alya, and Nino watched as Chloe straightened her back, chin slightly up and walked a few meters away.

“ _What_ is she doing?” Alya grumbled.

“Not gonna lie, I’d feel a lot better if she was Queen Bee and pulling this stubt,” Nino commented, implying that he knew what Chloe was about to do. Marinette quickly caught on.

“Is she gonna hurt herself?!” Marinette gasped, fingertips covering her lips. Alya and Nino gawked at her. Marinette didn’t notice how she asked that, but she imagined it came out weird. Marinette would never know that it was the amount of genuine concern that made her friends stare.

The whole gym seemed to freeze as Chloe took a running start along the sidelines. Even the game slowed down to watch as Chloe bent down, hands out front. Marinette didn’t even blink as she witnessed Chloe flip three times and land perfectly with her legs together and arms straight out to the side. Chloe had her triumphant smirk on her face as the crowd erupted.

“Hey! They stole the ball from us!” Alya stood up and pointed to the court.

All eyes whipped back to the _real_ event. It was though all the players were gradually unthawing from a Frozer attack. Only Adrien seemed to have fast enough reflexes to begin his pursuit from all the way across the court.

“Boo! Adrien!” the home team supporters roared to life. Marinette couldn’t even hear herself, but she knew she was screaming since she could feel her vocal cords vibrating. It was so deafening that the screams, for a solid five seconds, warped themselves and sounded as if everything was submerged underwater.

Adrien — ever the model — was tall enough to intercept a pass of the opposing team. With that, Adrien dribbled the ball all the way back to his team’s hoop and nailing a slam dunk into the net, which caused everybody to go _wild._

_“Les loups! Les loups! Les loups!”_ The crowd cheered rambunctiously.

As the students left the gym, the gaiety of victory still buzzing over Marinette, Alya, and Nino.

“Did you see that dunk!?” Nino exclaimed. “Alya, please tell me you recorded it!”

“Of course I did!” Alya responded, putting a hand to her chest and feigning her taking of offense, before she turned to Marinette. “Hey, Marinette! We should go visit Adrien with Nino!”

“Wh-what?!” Marinette exclaimed, cheeks flushing instantly at the suggestion.

“Yeah! C’mon, Marinette! Adrien’ll be glad to see you!” Nino encouraged.

_‘Glad...to see_ me?!’ Marinette squealed internally.

The one thing Marinette had gotten better at over the past several months was taming her excitement over Adrien. She supposed that that’s what happened when you hardly see somebody every day anymore for months.

Alya grabbed Marinette’s wrist with one hand and intertwined her fingers of the other with Nino’s. Together, the three of them ran back into the gym and stopped near the boys’ locker room for Adrien.

“Are you sure we can be here?” Marinette asked nervously.

“Adrien told it’s cool for us to stick around here,” Nino dismissed. “Don’t stress it too much, Marinette! Seriously! Adrien’ll be happy to see you!”

Marinette smiled and giggled sheepishly, cheeks flushing a little. However, as the group neared the locker room doors, it was clear that they were not the only ones eager to see the star player of the wolves; a swarm of people stood near the locker room entrance. Marinette recognized faces from both the visiting and home team supporters as well as people who she didn’t even think were at the game. Unfortunately, that meant the three of them were at the back of the crowd.

As two players walked out, people practically tackled them, demanding to see Adrien.

“Whoa, whoa,” said one of the players. “You guys ever heard of privacy? You can’t go in.”

“And who are _you_ to say we can’t see Adrien?!” A voice that could only belong to Chloe Bourgeois demanded.

“The team captain,” the basketball player responded, just as boldly.

“Wait, Adrien’s not the captain?” A murmur rippled through the crowd. Marinette cringed a little, immediately feeling sympathy for the captain since he was being underestimated by _everyone._

However, the captain of the wolves — Corbeille — stood unfazed and strong, crossing his arms. In a way, he reminded Marinette of Kim — just without the arrogance.

“Adrien may not be the captain, but he’s still our best player,” Corbeille humbly admitted. “I mean, I’m sure we all saw that dunk, right?”

That got the crowd to scream, _“Yeah!”_

Marinette felt relieved; this guy didn’t seem to hold anything against Adrien at all. In fact, none of the fellow wolf players did. They didn’t see Adrien Agreste as the model, the son of renowned fashion designer, the pillar of perfection. They saw him as... _Adrien,_ and the only person from _Collège_ _Françoise Dupont_ and _Lycée Monet St. Croix_ who did the same was…

“You’re Nino Lahiffe, right?” Corbeille asked, suddenly in front of Marinette, Alya, and Nino. As tall as Nino was, he had to look up to the captain.

“Uh...yeah, what’s up, dude?” Nino responded, hesitant.

“Heard you’re Adrien’s best friend,” the captain gave a smile. “I just wanted to say thanks, man. For the past couple of months, Adrien was...not playing his best. I had to force him to stop playing for a little because it was getting too much for him and he wouldn’t quit.”

“Once he’s got his mind set on it, he’ll do it,” Nino commented with a chuckle.

“Ha, yeah,” Corbeille smiled. “After a few weeks, he came back, ready to play again. He was smiling and everything. Said his mind was cleared up because his best friend gave him a big pep talk, lots of advice, _everything._ So thanks, man. You’re a real friend.”

“Ah, it’s no biggie. I mean, what are friends for, right, uh...” Nino added with a hopeful half-smile and trailing off when he didn’t know the guy’s name.

“Ha, yeah. Name’s Sebastien, by the way,” the captain smiled, but there was a glimmer of sadness rippling over his face. “Seb, for short. But I wish I could say the same about friends myself.”

“Why’s that?” Alya asked.

“You must be Alya,” Sebastien recalled, his mood instantly changing. “Adrien talks a lot about his _collège_ friends. Anyways, the team captain of the other team — the tigers — used to be _my_ best friend.”

“What happened?” Nino asked.

“I’m not really sure,” Seb sighed. “He just told me one day that he was going to the other boys’ private school and that was it.”

“I’m really sorry, man,” Nino offered his condolences.

“But why?” Alya asked..

“No idea. But whatever he’s doing at the other school is the same as what I’m doing here: captain of the basketball team, head of the robotics team... _everything.”_

“Sounds like somebody’s a little jealous,” Alya commented.

“I just don’t get why though,” the captain shrugged, clearly nonchalant and over the pain now. “I mean, if he had told me he wanted to do those things, I’d let him do it.”

Nino put a sympathetic hand on the captain’s back, giving it a few firm pats.

“You can’t go back and change the past, and you can’t change who somebody is like, my guy,” Nino affirmed.

“I’m just afraid that he’ll think I’m getting back at him for everything after tonight,” Seb sighed. Suddenly, he looked to Marinette, and his face lit up. “Marinette, right? Adrien talks a _lot_ about you.”

“Wh-what?! Really?!” Marinette gasped, her eyes widening and her hopes soaring.

“You’re practically famous yourself,” Seb laughed. “Girl with the best bread in Paris, Adrien’s girlfriend —”

_“Girlfriend?!”_ Marinette, Alya, and Nino exclaimed at once.

“Nah, nah, not really,” Seb continued flippantly. “We just call you that behind his back. The way he talks about you _really_ makes it seem like he loves you, but...he always says his heart is for somebody else.”

Marinette’s face must have fallen because he then added, “You sound and seem like a sweet person, though. Maybe Adrien’ll open his eyes.”

Marinette looked up to the wolf captain with the kind of hopeful, heartbroken eyes, and he gave her a little smile. Right as he turned away, he froze.

“What is it?” Marinette asked.

“It’s him,” Seb responded. Marinette, Alya, and Nino all followed his gaze.

Marinette caught a basketball player from the other team briefly glance at them before turning away and storming off.

“I just don’t get it,” Seb sighed with a shake of his head.

“Don’t worry about it,” Marinette tried to reassure him. “You’re a good person, and he’s not. You shouldn’t worry about him.”

“Yeah, especially when he doesn’t care about you,” Alya added.

“Thanks, you guys,” Seb smiled. “I can see why Adrien speaks so highly of you. Catch ya next game!”

With that, the wolf captain disappeared — the eager Adrien fan-crowd swallowing him.

“He seems nice,” Marinette commented.

“Yeah. It’s a shame that ‘best friend’ of his totally ditched him,” Alya added.

Suddenly, screams erupted nearby. People were suddenly knocked down and others scattered, parting to reveal some tall person; he wore a jersey, shorts, basketball shoes with high socks, wristbands, and a sweatband — typical of a basketball player — but his face was shielded with a glass visor, all in a purple, black, and white color scheme. As he approached, he spun a purple and black basketball on his right pinky finger.

“I’m looking for Adrien Agreste,” the villain smirked, “and anyone who comes in my way’s gonna get a personal foul!”

Suddenly, the villain threw the ball at some random victim in the crowd. Right as the ball collided into the unsuspecting victim’s back, the victim suddenly donned an outfit in a similar style to this villain.

“Who are you?!” Somebody exclaimed.

“The name’s Buzzer Beater,” the villain declared, “and I’m looking for the person who robbed my team of its victory: Adrien Agreste.”

Marinette could feel Tikki squirming in her bag, but she already knew: another akumatized supervillain.

“Hey, um! Alya, Nino! Let’s go hide in the locker rooms over there!” Marinette suggested.

In reality, she knew that her best friend and her boyfriend would assume their superhero identities; she just needed an excuse to get away from them to assume _hers_.

“Uh, yeah, we’re right behind you, M’s!” Alya exclaimed behind her as Marinette forced her way to the nearest secluded area. The crowd folded in on Marinette, separating her from her friends — just as she intended.

Tikki burst from Marinette’s purse, already eager.

“Ready to score?” Tikki smiled encouragingly.

“Ready as I’ll ever be!” Marinette grinned. “Tikki, spots on!”

Ladybug ran out into the open, taking in a moment to assess the chaotic scene unfolding before her eyes. Rena Rouge and Carapace appeared at her side. Rena Rouge had her flute poised for battle while Carapace held his shield out.

Ever since the strange encounter with that strange gigantic bug that came out of Hawk Moth last year, Master Fu instructed Ladybug to allow her friends to keep their Miraculouses. When she asked why, the wise master in turn asked whether she saw a feather nearby; she said yes. Master Fu then explained that only the wielder of the Peacock Miraculous could do something like that, and if it was helping Hawk Moth, that meant _two_ Miraculouses had fallen into the wrong hands.

_“The power of transmission combined with the power of projection only means that this evil will increase exponentially,_ ” Master Fu told her.

So Ladybug had a permanent team set up. All she needed now was for Queen Bee and Cat Noir to show up (which wouldn’t be long since Chloe was in there with them; as for Cat Noir...that was a different story).

“What’s this guy’s deal?” Rena Rouge asked.

“He’s got it out for Adrien Agreste,” Ladybug responded.

“Any idea where the akuma is?” Carapace asked.

“Not yet, I — “

“You’re all out of free throws, heroes!” Buzzer Beater shouted. “Think you can take on my all-star team?”

All the people Buzzer Beater had struck with his basketball rose and faced the three heroes.

Suddenly, a yellow-and-black-striped top spun around the villainous team, binding all of them together.

“The only all-star team here is _us,_ ” Queen Bee said triumphantly, landing down beside Ladybug, Rena Rouge, and Carapace.

“I don’t think a bunch of cheerleaders can outdo us!” Buzzer Beater smirked, throwing a dark-colored basketball at them; Carapace reacted immediately by throwing his shield out and deflecting the weapon in disguise.

The ball flung out of the way, but a loud _pop!_ drew all of their attentions; the ball found itself in a black-covered hand and popped because of the claw-like grip of a certain feline superhero who was up in the metal rafters of the gym.

“Hate to burst your basket-bubble, but the buzzer’s gone off for you, Buzzer Beater!” Cat Noir declared, leaping down from the rafters and landing smoothly in a crouch before standing up on his two legs; he shook off the deflated basketball from his clawed hands.

Would this be the day they would see that Peacock Miraculous in action again? Ever since the Catalyst incident, they had yet to see anymore feathers or giant allies.

“I’m here for Adrien Agreste!” Buzzer Beater shouted at them.

“And what has he done to you?” Cat Noir asked, folding his arms on his staff and leaning against it.

“He stole the game from me and made a fool of my team! In front of the wolves, after I swore to beat them, to be a better captain than theirs!” Buzzer Beater growled.

_‘Sebastien!’_ Ladybug gasped inside her head. _‘This guy must be Seb’s old friend!’_

“Guillaume!” A voice shouted.

“Seb!” Rena Rouge and Carapace exclaimed in shock.

The wolf captain — now out of his jersey and into more casual clothes — stood.

“I am _not_ Guillaume! I am Buzzer Beater now! How do you feel now, Sebastien Corbeille? You can’t beat me now!” Buzzer Beater then laughed maniacally.

“You don’t have to do this! You’re not mad at Adrien, you’re mad at me!” Seb said boldly.

Cat Noir immediately ran up to the wolf captain; Ladybug imagined it was to tell him to go away.

“Ladybug! His watch!” Sebastien shouted right as Cat Noir gently pushed him away.

“Watch?” Rena Rouge echoed, befuddled.

“Duh, it’s the Emporio Armani watch on him!” Queen Bee pointed at the looming figure in purple. “Although I think that akuma’s made it lose at least _half_ its worth with that nasty color it is now!”

Now that she mentioned it, Ladybug could see what Queen Bee meant; in the scuffle when Queen Bee tied the team up, Buzzer Beater’s left wristband had fallen off, revealing a purple watch that glinted in the light.

However, Buzzer Beater and his all-star team then sent a barrage of basketballs towards them. Only Carapace — quick in mind and body — reacted in time, shouting, _“Shellter!”_ and engulfing the heroes in a dome of green. All around them, the basketballs beat down on the energy dome like hail.

Rena Rouge held her flute to her lips, played her signature sweet melody, and exclaimed, _“Mirage!”_ Ladybug caught her foxy friend saying to herself, “If it’s Adrien you want, it’s Adrien you’ll get…!”

“I can’t hold this shield up for long!” Carapace said with a significant strain in his voice. “Hope you dudes got a plan!”

“Easy! I can just use my Venom on the big guy, destroy his watch, and Ladybug just de-evilize the akuma!” Queen Bee said matter-of-factly, starting to spin her top.

“Wait, Queen Bee!” Ladybug tried to stop her from stepping out of the shield, but she heard the blonde-haired girl yell, _“Venom!”_

Right as Queen Bee began to charge at Buzzer Beater, the akumatized villain turned his head and grinned, spotting the Adrien illusion that was walking out of the locker room; he then sprinted towards the illusion, which prompted Queen Bee to exclaim, “Hey! Get back here!”

That left her vulnerable to the Buzzer Beater’s team, but Carapace threw his shield, the shell-like aegis hitting, bouncing off, and knocking out all of the players.

“Queenie, careful!” Carapace tried to warn, but she was already trying to take down the Buzzer Beater right as he tried to throw a basketball at illusion-Adrien’s head; much to his disappointment, the fake Adrien turned into orange dust.

“Ladybug, _what_ are you waiting for?” Rena Rouge demanded; the first chunk of light on her Miraculous blinked and went out.

The Buzzer Beater then froze in place, Queen Bee stepping away and her top detaching from her hand. Queen Bee then reached for his watch, throwing it to the ground and letting the face shatter. The purple and black akuma fluttered out. Ladybug sighed; she was waiting to see an out-of-place feather. As much as she didn’t want this Peacock Miraculous wielder to show up and make Hawk Moth’s akumatized villains worse, she wanted them to act again to get a better idea of what they did. Master Fu said something about the power of projection, but what did that mean?

“Time to de-evilize!” Ladybug exclaimed, swinging her magic yo-yo. Once she caught it, she pressed the top of her yo-yo, sweetly saying, “Bye bye, little butterfly!”

Deep down, though, she was a little disappointed. Where was that Peacock holder?

“Pound it!” The five joined fists.

Suddenly Carapace’s, Rena Rouge’s, and Queen Bee’s Miraculous chirped in unison.

“Gotta go!” All three exclaimed; Queen Bee rode her top away while Carapace and Rena Rouge ran side by side.

Cat Noir and Ladybug watched as Guillaume returned to normal, glancing around in bewilderment. All of a sudden, Sebastien ran up, hugging his old friend.

“Well, I guess we can leave them to work it out,” Ladybug commented wistfully.

“What’s up, Bugaboo?” Cat Noir asked suddenly.

“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t been acting normally since...since the Scarlet event. Is it the feather?”

“I—It’s hard to explain…” Ladybug trailed off nervously.

“C’mon, you can tell me,” Cat Noir comfortingly urged. “If it’s about Master Fu, you know I already know about him, and he’s taught me everything you know.”

And then...Cat Noir looked to her with those brilliant green eyes that were always filled with light. It made Ladybug lower her gaze to the floor; they were alluring if she looked too long. She also knew that his eager curiosity would hurt her. It hurt so much to hide things from him, even if he _was_ annoying sometimes.

“What about Adrien?” Ladybug asked, her voice more anxious than she would have liked. “Is he okay?”

“Ah, don’t worry,” Cat Noir dismissed with a flick of his clawed hand. “I was a bit late to the party ‘cause I made sure he was safe at home. We haven’t used our special powers yet, so...what do you say? Up for a late night chat?”

Ladybug looked at Sebastien and Guillaume now walking out of the gymnasium. She also spotted Alya and Nino — the former under the latter’s arm. Chloe sauntered with a little smile to Sabrina. She then looked right into Cat Noir’s eyes; that eager light in them made her look to the ground.

He deserved to know. They were partners, and they had to trust each other.

“How ‘bout a little race to the Eiffel Tower, kitty?” Ladybug smiled.

“It’s on, Bugaboo!” Cat Noir’s entire face lit up, and they both laughed as they ran out of the gymnasium, flying out into the night and the wind blowing against their masked faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Uh, hi! This is actually my first work here on AO3 and I hope you all show a little mercy :') anyways here are some notes:
> 
> 'La Vie en Rose' is a very famous song in and from France. It's a very pretty song :') In addition to the original, I recommend the Andrea Bocelli cover!
> 
> *"Zut" is a French exclamation, very similar to "darn it!" or "dang it!", or if you're more risky, "damn it!" or "shit!"  
> **Gregroire de Fronsac is a French hero and he is a part of something called the Brotherhood of the Wolves. I figured a good reference to that would be cute! Also, Monet St. Croix is a Marvel superheroine who is from France!  
> ***The jeering at the wolves actually comes from a tradition from my French teacher in middle school. Every year, we would do a French play, and one year we did Little Red Riding Hood. It was a traditional to "boo" every time we said the word "loup."  
> ****"Corbeille" means basket in French :) Sebastien is the captain of WHAT TEAM? (wildcats)


	2. Un Rire Qui Se Perd Sur Sa Bouche

They were supposed to be happy; it was a great honor for Adrien to be going to Oxford University. Instead, they all felt...disappointment? Disapproval? Grief?

The news came after the results of the bac*. As if in a pitiful attempt to counter the weight of such despairing news, Adrien announced that his father was allowing him to host a dinner party at the Agreste mansion before the end of June — when Adrien had to leave for Oxford.

Of course, Chloe tried to get into Oxford to be with Adrien. Marinette imagined the angry, one-sided conversation and giggled to herself.

Despite it, Marinette didn’t feel as disappointed as she thought she’d be. Of course Adrien going away was bad, but she surprisingly was not absolutely _devastated._ That had to be a good sign; that silly middle school crush was finally fading away and becoming something mature.

So there Marinette was, standing in front of her mirror and getting ready for the dinner party as Tikki flew around her on this rather warm June afternoon. Marinette made the knee-length dress by hand; the dress had lace sleeves, neckline, and bodice with a solid white skirt. A simple sash lined the waist, and an elegant bow sat right along her spine. The back of the dress had a very low cut, revealing quite a bit of Marinette’s back (but Marinette had cups sewn into the front of the body, which had a solid backing of a sweetheart neckline while the lace overlay had a basque neckline). Her hair had been done up in a half-ponytail with little braids along the sides of her head. She chose to wear white ballet-like flats which also had a white lace overlay on them. On her left wrist was the lucky bracelet Adrien gave her for her birthday a few years back, and underneath the sheer basque neckline peeked through the red kwagatama Tikki had given her on that very same day. She also had the slightest bit of makeup on; she feared sweating it all off if she did more.

“It looks amazing, Marinette!” Tikki beamed.

“Really? Do you think it looks too plain?” Marinette then turned around a little, craning her neck to look at her reflection of her back. “Too revealing?”

“No way, everything’s perfect!” Tikki affirmed. “You look _beautiful,_ Marinette!”

“You think so?”

“I _know_ so!”

The kwami had a white bow on her right antenna, which matched the bow on Marinette’s back. Even though nobody would see the sacred kwami, both Marinette and Tikki were eager for the kwami accessory. Marinette began making little accessories for Tikki whenever she got stressed; the whole week before the bac, Marinette probably made the most accessories ever: bows, hats, scarves, even little sunglasses!

In the past few years, Marinette still never had the courage to tell Adrien about her crush on him. Tikki helped her to resolve that problem tonight. It would be the most inconvenient timing, _should_ Adrien reciprocate those feelings, but it was better late than never!

_“Marinette! Are you ready! Alya’s here!”_

“Don’t worry, _Madame_ Cheng, I got this,” Alya’s voice sounded closer, and Marinette knew that her best friend was already coming up the stairs. Suddenly, the hatch door in Marinette’s floor burst open, and Alya stepped up. Tikki quickly dove into Marinette’s purse.

Alya wore a orange-gold dress with a sequin bodice and a matching-colored chiffon, knee-length skirt — another Marinette creation. Caught between the diaphanous layers of the skirt were tiny rhinestones to mimic glitter; that had been the most time-consuming part of Alya’s dress, which was saying a lot since Marinette sewed the sequin covered bodice together herself (and the sequins flipped up to reveal Marinette’s signature in gold against a white background like those cute pillows. Marinette had been inspired by the pillow she made herself which was matte pink with holographic white dots which inverted to be metallic red with black dots). Alya’s hair was tied up into a ponytail, and Marinette couldn’t help but think about how much her best friend looked like her “secret” superheroine identity.

“Whoa, Marinette! You look goddamn _gorgeous!”_ Alya gasped. “You look _so_ ready! Now, c’mon! We gotta go! Nino says we gotta get there early!”

Alya then grabbed Marinette’s hand, giving the latter barely enough time to grab the strap of her purse with Tikki inside it, and dragged her down the stairs and out the door.

“Bye, sweetie! Have fun!” Marinette heard her mom call.

“Bye, mom! Thanks!” Marinette tried to shout back before the door closed on her.

Out in the street, Nino — in an emerald green button-up with the sleeves pushed up and khaki pants and boat shoes — stood, looking at his watch. Marinette noticed that he swapped his cap for a more suitable hat for the event. Even though Adrien had said his dinner party was more casual than anything, everybody still dressed to impress the king of fashion design in his own palace. Marinette also knew that Nino did not want to disappoint Gabriel Agreste, given the rough history between them.

“Finally!” Nino exclaimed. “Looking good, Marinette! Let me guess, you made that one yourself, too?”

“Of course she did!” Alya answered for her. “Marinette’s getting cheap since she’s gotta save up for her new life at ECSCP!”

Marinette found out just the day before that she had been accepted into the _École de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne_ , or ECSCP for short, and it was a _big_ deal! Marinette wasn’t aware until her acceptance letter came that Gabriel Agreste himself wrote a letter of recommendation for Marinette, which basically sealed the deal with one of the best Parisian fashion universities.

“Didn’t Mr. Agreste give you a giant grant that basically pays for everything?” Nino recalled. “And isn’t it already really close?”

“Gabriel Agreste also gave her enough money to rent out of the fanciest apartments near there for a whole year!” Alya beamed.

“Sounds like you’re more excited for this than she is!” Nino laughed. “Marinette, how do you feel about it?”

Marinette was still on a cloud about that. She was smiling in a daze at the sky thinking about all the good things that have come to her.

“See why I have to be excited for her?” Alya smirked, hugging her boyfriend’s arm and walking as Marinette dreamily followed.

The Agreste mansion loomed over them, glowing a rosy gold as the sunset reflected off the smooth, marble-like stone face of the building. Strings of fairy lights stretched over their heads as they passed through the open gates. An arch of black and white balloons stretched along the stone archway that the gate sat in between. Along the two pillars that started off the high stone fence were columns of black and white balloons.

“Whoa,” the three friends gasped in away.

“Guess Mr. Agreste _does_ know how to party,” Nino added with a smile on his face.

“Marinette! Nino! Alya!” A voice called as they gazed around the empty courtyard.

Marinette saw him first: Adrien coming down from the grand doors. He wore a white button-up shirt of silk with the first couple of buttons undone (which revealed along his collarbones some sort of necklace with a black charm) and the sleeves folded up right beneath his elbows, revealing a silver watch (probably expensive) on his left wrist and Marinette’s lucky charm bracelet (not expensive at all) on his right. The shirt was tucked into a fine pair of white pants with thin vertical black stripes. Adrien also wore clean white boat shoes. Marinette also noticed the large silver ring on his right hand.

 _‘So much for getting over that middle school crush…’_ a voice that sounded suspiciously like Tikki’s rang inside Marinette’s head.

“Oh, boy, she’s mesmerized,” Alya giggled to Nino. “Snap out of it, M’s! He’s coming this way!”

“Wow, you guys are the first ones!” Adrien greeted merrily, breaking into a handshake with Nino. “Glad you guys could make it!”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, right, _Marinette?”_ Alya asked, elbowing her friend to snap her out of it.

“Of course not!” Marinette immediately exclaimed (and a little too loudly). “I mean, uh, thanks for inviting us, Adrien!”

“It’s no problem,” Adrien said as his smile grew wider. “Wow, did you make that dress yourself?”

“Uhh…” Marinette looked down to see what she was wearing (out of habit) before she realized that she did indeed make the dress (she had just been staring at herself wearing it in the mirror for half an hour). “Yeah! I did! And I made Alya’s dress, too!”

“That’s amazing! You’re really talented, Marinette! I’m glad my father chose to give you his grant, and I think he made the right decision!” Adrien commended. Suddenly his eyes widened and lit up. “Actually, let’s go see him so you can thank him yourself!”

“R-really?!” Marinette squeaked.

“Yeah, really! He’s got to see this dress, too!” Adrien beamed. “But...I’d hate leave out our other guests.”

“Oh, no! We’re fine!” Alya waved dismissively. “Nino’s been to your house lots of times! Just tell us where to go! Don’t worry about us!”

“Well, the dinner’s gonna be in the dining hall, naturally, and you guys can just hang out in the foyer! There’s punch and appetizer snacks there before the main dishes are served,” Adrien instructed.

Alya and Nino voiced their understanding as the four of them entered the house. Even the foyer was elegantly decorated. Along the base of the stairs was a long table covered in a black velvet tablecloth; atop the table sat a glimmering fountain streaming punch and on either side of the fountain were trays and trays of hors d’oeuvres. However, off to their left was a set of elegant black doors, and Adrien took Marinette’s wrist, the beads of their bracelets clacking together, and led her to them.

Marinette glanced nervously back at Nino and Alya, who gave her an encouraging thumbs-up and wave. Marinette couldn’t help but notice how much he _loomed_ over her now. Sure, Marinette grew a few inches since she was 14, but Adrien had to be at _least_ six feet tall! Not to mention his _voice — ugh!_ It had become...so much better! Marinette wondered if Adrien could sing now since his voice had gotten deeper and gained timbre. Marinette could also tell that Adrien was holding back the true magnitude of his voice; it was the kind that naturally resonated in any environment, one that could be heard across a room even when he was mumbling. Did _everything_ about Adrien Agreste have to be so _perfect?_ Marinette’s cheeks flushed as she resisted a smile.

At the same time, it sounded...familiar. Marinette had _seen_ Adrien and messaged him a lot on social media, but she rarely had the chance to speak with him. So why did it ring such a deep-sounding bell?

“Father?” Adrien called as he pushed his way through the doors; Marinette wanted to squeal because there was such a command to that simple word now that Adrien unleashed the sheer power in his voice. It was truly alluring, a siren’s song.

“Yes, son?” Gabriel Agreste looked up from his screen. His stone expression softened a little upon seeing the two young adults.

“Father, Marinette wanted to tell you something,” Adrien said warmly, allowing Marinette to step up and giving her a confident wink.

“Yes, Marinette?” Mr. Agreste asked. Marinette couldn’t tell if he was sounding impatient or his tone just naturally tense.

“I, uh, just wanted to thank you so much for your grant, your letter, everything! In fact, I don’t think I can thank you enough or ever repay you!” Marinette said, her words rushing out as she scratched the back of her head.

Mr. Agreste gave a slight smile.

“There’s no need to thank me. In fact, I should be thanking _you,_ ” he added calmly.

“What?! Thank _me?!_ No way!” Marinette exclaimed. “I mean, thank _you_ , but I’m not sure what I could’ve possibly done for you to deserve such an honor!”

“Please, Marinette, have some pride,” Mr. Agreste advised, stepping away from his screen to put a hand on her shoulder. “You are not just a talented fashion designer; you are a talented artist. I’ve seen your artwork for Jagged Stone, and Adrien tells me you’ve made plenty of clothes by hand.”

“Marinette made the dress she’s wearing right now, Father!” Adrien added ebulliently.

Mr. Agreste’s hand lifted off of Marinette’s shoulder as he examined the dress.

“Incredible work, Marinette,” Mr. Agreste complimented at last. “This dress is very chic, and that is already a huge understatement. Marinette, I’d like to offer you a position at my Agreste Bridal Boutique, an exclusive, Paris-only branch of my _Gabriel_ brand. You have quite the eye and the hands for it. Besides, I am confident that your youthfulness will refresh the atmosphere and help to modernize it, as I’ve been hoping.”

“Yes, of course, Mr. Agreste!” Marinette exclaimed. “Thank you!”

“As I said, I should be the one thanking you. It’s an honor for you to join my team,” Mr. Agreste said as he smiled, holding out a hand. Marinette eagerly shook it before he turned to write the name of the place and the address on a blank business card.

“Once the first term starts, do not hesitate to rearrange your schedule,” Mr. Agreste informed Marinette as he held out the card. “I will only require you to work a minimum of 20 hours a week, and you will be paid as much as my regular employees. Of course, you mustn’t tell them that.”

Did _the_ Gabriel Agreste just _wink_ at her?! Did he and Marinette already have a head start to their business relationship!?

“Thank you, Mr. Agreste!” Marinette felt like a broken record.

“I look forward to our brands collaborating one day on a fashion line,” Mr. Agreste said. “Now, please, enjoy the dinner party. It’s nearly seven; the first course is about to be served.”

“Will you not be joining us?” Marinette asked innocuously.

“Tonight is for Adrien,” Mr. Agreste said, gesturing to his son with a hint of pride. “Don’t worry about me, both of you. Please, go have fun.”

“Have a good evening, Mr. Agreste!” Marinette called as Mr. Agreste gave her a gentle push away.

As Adrien and Marinette left the atelier, Marinette turned to Adrien and said, “Your dad is very nice! I can’t believe he just offered me a job!”

“You deserve it, Marinette,” Adrien told her with a half smile.

As the two walked towards the open doors to the dining hall, Marinette figured she’d strike up a conversation.

“I’m happy you made it into Oxford! That’s huge!” Marinette started. “What are you gonna major in?”

“Business,” Adrien responded with a sheepish smile. “I wanna be able to take over my father’s business one day. I want to know how to handle it, even if I’m not as talented as he is.”

“But you _are_ talented! You play basketball, piano, you fence, you speak Chinese — and _I’m_ Chinese and can’t even do that — ” Marinette’s words began tumbling out of her mouth, but...she didn’t stammer once. Nervousness was not fueling her mind; passion was. “ — You can act and dance and model! I think you can do whatever you want if you put your mind to it!”

“You think so?”

“I _know_ so! You shouldn’t let your father’s shadow hang over you. Do what _you_ want to do! You can’t go wrong if you follow your heart.”

“So do you think it’s okay if I still wanna take over my father’s position?”

“If that’s what you want! Besides, you can always do other things for fun!”

“Thanks, Marinette. You’re such a great help. I’m looking forward to _us_ working together as head of our own brands one day — but not too soon, of course.”

“Yeah! Can’t wait for us to get together — I mean, work together!” Marinette fumbled, grinning.

Adrien simply smiled, (Marinette hoped) dismissing her comment. He pulled out a chair near the head of the dining table, gesturing for Marinette to sit. Alya was seated to Marinette’s left, and Nino was on Alya’s left. Adrien stood behind his chair (Marinette’s right) at the head of the table.

As the dining room filled up with all of their friends and classmates (and some of Adrien’s newer friends from _Gregoire de Fronsac_ ), it felt like, for a moment, Adrien wasn’t going away to England. It felt like they were still in Ms. Bustier’s class, young and naïve again. They seemed to forget that Adrien was ever away from them, that the Hawk Moth akumatizations didn’t matter despite how they kept getting more powerful every day.

To start the dinner, Adrien stood up and began tapping a fork to one of his glasses. The ringing sound was shrill and harsh, but Adrien’s own resonating voice was warm and deep like dark chocolate. At that moment, servants came in and began filling the glasses with champagne. When the fizzing faded away, Marinette noticed that the champagne was tinted pink, and it made her heart dance a little.

“Thank you all for coming!” Adrien greeted merrily, holding up a now full flute of rose champagne. Marinette couldn’t help but note how well he was able to project; it felt like his voice was bouncing off of the walls! “I’m glad you were all able to join me tonight! I am also honored to have known you, been your classmate back in _collège,_ and still have your support all through _lycée._ If you’re from _Gregroire,_ then I thank you for being with me these past few years. Tonight isn’t about me or where I’m going. It’s about giving back to you, so here’s a toast to all of you! _Tchin tchin**!”_

Adrien’s glass was suddenly placed in front of Marinette. All around them, the clinks of flutes and merry _“tchin tchin”’_ s sounded, but it all felt like a mile away. Marinette looked into Adrien’s brilliant green eyes and saw the slight curving of his lips, and she melted all over again. She forced herself to break the spell by moving her own glass of rose champagne, dying Adrien pink for a moment.

 _“Tchin tchin!”_ Marinette squeaked with a giggle. Adrien smiled a little wider as he turned to clink glasses with Chloe.

“Well, call me a little pig ‘cause I’m betting by the hair of my t-chinny t-chin t-chin that _somebody_ isn’t over her crush like she _said_ she was,” Alya mused in Marinette’s ear; she then held out her flute and Marinette clinked it with hers with a huff and a puff of her inner big bad wolf harboring playful spite against her best friend.

As the meals came, Marinette was mystified by their presentations and their flavors! What a life of luxury Adrien must have lived in this mansion! Marinette always gave a morsel of every dish for Tikki, quickly slipping the spoon or fork into her purse when nobody was looking.

A few hours in, Marinette caught something moving in the shadows in the windows behind Adrien; she looked over there for a moment but figured it was just her imagination and fears taking root.

“You alright, Marinette?” Adrien asked as he dabbed his napkin to his lips.

“Oh, nothing,” Marinette responded with a jump. “I guess it was just the wind moving the bushes or something.”

Adrien gave a shifty glance behind him.

“I can send somebody to go check if you’d like,” Adrien said reassuringly when he turned back around.

“N-no! It’s fine! I’m sure it’s nothing!” Marinette waved her arms in front of her frantically. “Don’t worry about i — ”

“Adrien! Help me!” A new voice pierced through the air.

A young woman, dressed in a black hoodie, embraced Adrien suddenly.

“Ex- _cuse_ me?!” Chloe stood straight up, her glittery golden dress sparkling with every motion of her body. “Just _who_ do _you_ think you are?!”

The young woman turned her head to face everybody with a little smirk, and everybody gasped when they recognized the infamous face: Lila Rossi. However, Marinette noticed the orange lips and the fox tail colored bangs. Somehow, Lila didn’t have the signature mask over her eyes, but the look still left a bitter taste in Marinette’s mouth from a dish called Volpina.

A few years ago, Lila hit the peak of her fame as an Instagram model, but things went downhill _fast;_ she was exposed all over Reddit and Twitter as a phony, which drove her off social media and back to Italy ever since. Nothing had been heard from Lila ever since, and now she was here...far from home.

“Lila? Is that you?” Adrien asked warily. “What’s wrong? What are you doing here? We haven’t heard from you in years!”

“We can’t worry about that now! Help me! I was kidnapped and taken here! They’re after me! You have to help me!” Lila begged.

“What?! Kidnapped!?” Adrien exclaimed.

At the door of the dining table suddenly appeared a group of tall men dress in dark colors. Marinette realized that due to the positioning of the table and the doors, neither Adrien nor Lila were the closest to these dangerous intruders; _she_ was, and it was she whom the kidnappers had aimed their weapons at.

“Marinette!” Almost everybody screamed; Marinette noticed the stark absence of the one voice who would be concerned the most — and one that Marinette would’ve heard right away: Alya.

“Give us the girl, and nobody gets hurt!” One of the men shouted.

Tikki started bouncing around Marinette’s purse, but Marinette couldn’t transform...not in front of everybody — especially Lila — for that matter. Lila was in her Volpina form, which meant that she was akumatized ( _again_ ), but...what did that mean? Did Hawk Moth find the ability to akumatize people beyond Parisian city limits? What would that mean for the Miraculous team? And if Lila was _able_ to be akumatized, that meant her hatred for Ladybug was still going strong — or maybe it was replaced with the humiliation she faced online. In the massive whirlwind of emotions and thoughts in Marinette’s head, one feeling stood out: sympathy...for Lila the liar?

“Wait! I’m sure we can work something out!” Marinette blurted, holding her hands straight  out in front of her.

“You’re pushing it, little lady!” One of the men shouted.

“The choice is obvious! It’s either everybody lives, or she dies!” Another commanded, holding his gun pointedly at Marinette.

Out of everything, Marinette noticed that these intruders did not dare come any closer. They still stood out in the foyer while Lila and the dinner party attendees were in the dining hall.

Suddenly, something thin and orange whizzed through the air and right through the men in the foyer. The men suddenly dissipated into orange sand. Everybody who witnessed the event gasped.

“Amazing work, Lila,” a voice called from the top of the stairs in the foyer. “I’ll admit, that illusion’s pretty good, but let’s stop playing copycat!”

Rena Rouge leapt down, landing in a squat with her right hand on the ground before standing up straight.

“ _You’re_ the copycat!” Lila growled, throwing off her hood to reveal her full Volpina form. “ _I_ was around first!”

“Technically speaking, my Miraculous was around before your lie, so _I_ was first,” Rena Rouge corrected slyly, a smirk appearing on her lips.

“Rena Rouge! Rena Rouge!” the party attendees cried.

“Everybody, into the kitchens!” Adrien cried, beginning to push Marinette forward and causing a landslide surge forward.

“Pollen, buzz on!” Chloe shouted, engulfing the room in a brilliant yellow light. “Go, Sabrina! Use your common sense and run! Don’t worry about me!”

“W-wait!” Marinette cried to Adrien, trying to find some excuse to get away as she heard Lila beginning to attack Rena Rouge.

“Don’t worry, Marinette! Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Carapace will be here soon to fix things!”  Adrien reassured as he closed and barricaded the doors to the kitchen with a sleek-looking and rather unused broom.

Marinette felt Nino tense up. Marinette wished she could offer him solace, but she could only do that as Ladybug. As everybody began to nervously stare at the door, Marinette slowly made her way to the back of the kitchen and to the nearest door. She tried her best to open the door as silently as she could and backed into it when it was just wide enough to squeeze through.

Just her luck, it was a bathroom. A rather nice bathroom, at that. Marinette opened her purse, allowing Tikki to fly out.

“Not sure how I’m gonna get out of this one, but Tikki, spots on!” Marinette practically whispered to her kwami.

As Ladybug, she still tried to open the door as subtly as she could. She crawled across the kitchen floor behind the island counters. Luckily, all eyes were still on the door as the sounds of fighting continued. Seeing another door (and hopefully, _not_ to another bathroom) she stood facing forwards and thrust the doors open behind her back. She then posed with her hands on her hips.

“Ladybug!” Everybody turned and gasped.

Ladybug then made her way to Adrien, and she almost hesitated to say, “I need you to open this door.”

“Of course, my — Ladybug!” Adrien said, catching himself; Ladybug giggled, cheeks flushing a little. What a courteous young man he was! How she loved that about him!

When Adrien removed the broom and gestured for her to open the doors, Ladybug figured that now was not the time for dramatic entrances; rather than kick open the doors worth more than her room, Ladybug slowly and cautiously twisted the handles and pushed open the doors gradually. The moment she pushed outwards, the sounds of Lila fighting Rena Rouge and Queen Bee burst through the tiny crack in the door.

Ladybug took a deep breath and squeezed through the tiniest possible space as she pushed open the door. There she was, slightly crouching and her hands behind her back. She was caught in a bit of a pickle.

“I’ll close it for you!” Adrien hissed behind her.

“Thanks!” Ladybug whispered back.

Adrien’s hands fell atop Ladybug’s, and she almost froze. Oh, how she wanted to relish in that moment! But there was a bigger task at hand. Ladybug drew her hands forward and somersaulted underneath the elegant dining table. Ladybug then crawled closer to the action, watching as Volpina was successfully able to fend off Rena Rouge _and_ Queen Bee. Her motions were quick — _impossibly_ quick. Ladybug didn’t recall Volpina being that agile and wondered if it was an illusion.

Ladybug was immediately corrected when Queen Bee tried to land a kick but Volpina grabbed her leg and swung her out the door back into the foyer. Ladybug winced when she heard the crashing noises. What Ladybug needed was for Queen Bee to use her Venom. Only then could they capture Volpina’s akuma, but how could they when Volpina was a WWE fighting champion all of a sudden? All of a sudden, a thud above Ladybug’s head made her shrink to the ground when Volpina and Rena Rouge threw each other onto the dining table.

“My, my, you’ve heard of cat fights; now get ready for _fox_ fights!” A familiar voice with a familiar playfulness sounded.

“Cat Noir!” Ladybug gasped with elated shock before slapping both of her hands over her mouth.

Cat Noir leaned against the doorway, twirling his belt tail with one hand and his staff in the other. His green gaze fell beneath the table made eye contact with Ladybug; she reacted by frantically waving her arms in front of her by alternating an X-shape to desperately say no, to keep quiet, to pretend she wasn’t there. Cat Noir briefly winked before shifting his gaze back up to the fighting foxes above.

“I can take on the whole goddamn zoo if I have to!” Volpina exclaimed as she threw Rena Rouge into one of the portraits on the walls. “I’m stronger now, and you can’t defeat me!”

“You wanna _chat_ about it then?” Cat Noir purred, stopping his staff and stashing it behind his back. He then raised his hands up as if in surrender. “Look, you don’t have your flute, and I’ve put away my staff. You’ve been gone for a while, and now you’re back? Ladybug’s not here, and she’s not responding to my calls, so you’ve got plenty of time for a dramatic monologue. ”

Ladybug wished she could see Volpina’s face. Would the vixen supervillain actually _believe_ Cat Noir?

“You know what, _gattino_ ***, you’re probably the only person who’s ever cared to ask about me,” Volpina sighed. With another thump above her head, a pair of slender, orange and white legs fell before Ladybug’s face and dangled off the edge of the table. “Right now, the whole world thinks I’ve been kidnapped, but I actually ran away. I’ll never forgive that partner of yours for _ruining_ my reputation and my life! I traveled by foot all the way back to Paris. I hitched rides, snuck onto trains when I could. Once in Paris, I knew Hawk Moth would be here, and I was _ready_ for him.”

Ladybug watched Cat Noir tense up. Ladybug also felt chills run down her spine. Somebody who _wanted_ to become akumatized?

“You…!” Rena Rouge rasped, trying to crawl up to her feet.

It was clear that Volpina seriously injured Rena Rouge, and Ladybug desperately wanted to help her best friend in disguise, but she had to wait. At the angle Ladybug crouched at, she could see Queen Bee peek her head out from the doorway, concealed by Cat Noir. Her hand still pulsated, Venom poised. Volpina didn’t seem to notice her, but Queen Bee and Ladybug made eye contact and nodded.

“...and I guess Hawk Moth was ready for me, since the moment I set foot in Paris, that pretty butterfly came right into my — well, I can’t reveal _that_ — but, you know, the weirdest thing happened! A feather came, a nice dark blue. It went into the same place as the akuma, and I heard a woman’s voice. She said she could turn my hatred into something better, so I agreed. And now? I’m better than _all_ of you!”

“Wanna bet?” Cat Noir folded his arms, then bowed. “Whenever you’re ready, Milady.”

And that was Ladybug’s cue, disguised as a challenge for Volpina. The vixen supervillain threw herself off of the table and landed gracefully on her two feet on the ground. Ladybug then threw out her yo-yo, allowing her weapon to bind Volpina’s legs up to her knees as tightly as she could.  
“Now, Queen Bee!” Ladybug shouted the moment she released her yo-yo; she knew how fast Volpina could react.

Ladybug yanked the string right as Queen Bee charged through Cat Noir’s legs and dove for Volpina. The fox supervillain fell to the floor, and Queen Bee jabbed her Venom right into her shoulder.

“Sorry for the warrant-less search and seizure,” Ladybug apologized as the Miraculous heroes (minus Carapace) began to search for the akumatized accessory. It came out sarcastically, but she really did mean it.

She figured if there ever was a time to use her Lucky Charm, it would be now. From her superpower came a leather bracelet with beads of some sort, all in red with black spots. Cat Noir reached down to Volpina and held up her arm, revealing an identical bracelet but in purple and black. Cat Noir then simply pulled the bracelet off, causing it to snap in half and fall to the floor. Ladybug started to open her yo-yo and begin the de-evilizing process. However, Rena Rouge gasped, “A feather!”

A pure white down feather floated out along with the dark butterfly from the bracelet Cat Noir had pulled apart from Volpina’s wrist.

“I guess that means we don’t have to worry about it?” Cat Noir drew his hesitant conclusion.

“I...guess?” Queen Bee agreed before using her top to grab the feather before it floated out of the dining room. “C’mon, Ladybug! Do your thing before the nasty bug gets away!”

“Oh! Right. Thanks, Queen Bee,” Ladybug said, forcing herself to draw her eyes away from that cursed feather. She began to spin her yo-yo around and shouted, “Time to de-evilize!”

Once she captured the akuma, she pressed the top of her yo-yo, bidding, “Bye-bye, little butterfly!”

With that, Ladybug threw her Lucky Charm into the air and shouted, “Miraculous Ladybug!” and the wave of ladybugs riding on pink energy waves flooded the Agreste mansion, restoring the dining-room-turned-arena back to normal. The black and purple clouds engulfed and dissipated from Volpina, leaving behind Lila. Ladybug then crouched down but didn’t put a hand on Lila.

“I know things have gotten tough, and I understand that a lot of it is my fault. I know I can’t take back what I said to you, but I’m still very sorry,” Ladybug told Lila.

“You could throw your entire heart at my feet, and I’d still stomp on it!” Lila hissed. “You _ruined_ me!”

“To be fair,” Cat Noir stepped in, “Ladybug’s never made a public statement against you. Back then, only Gabriel Agreste said something against Volpina, but Ladybug’s never come out and openly disparaged you.”

“You have every right to be mad at me,” Ladybug continued, “and that’s okay. But what I won’t stand for — what _all_ of us won’t stand for — is dishonesty. We’re all adults now; lying’s only gonna dig us into deeper holes, and if it gets too deep, we’ll never be able to get out of it. I want to help you get out of yours, Lila.”

“Help? I don’t need your fucking help!” Lila hissed, standing to her feet.

“Wait!” Ladybug exclaimed, but Lila had already stormed into the foyer.

Outside, police sirens blared, and Lila willingly walked into them. Reporters swarmed the Miraculous team and the alleged victim.

_“So, was Lila Rossi lying about her kidnapping, too?”_

_“Where is Carapace?”_

_“This is the third time we’ve seen Volpina in action! What does that mean for akuma victims in the past?”_

_“Miss Rossi has been missing for 2 days! Did Gabriel Agreste play a role in this?”_

“Mr. Agreste did not play a role in this!” Cat Noir snapped back immediately, much to Ladybug’s surprise. “Lila came as Volpina, and she went straight to Adrien Agreste, begging for help. We’re unsure of the motive as of now, but the Agreste family did not play a role in her disappearance. I want the world to know that Lila Rossi is safe and that nothing happened to her in the time she was missing!”

“Cat Noir, how do you know that?” Ladybug asked softly. “You weren’t here when she first burst in.”

“N-no, but I recognized Volpina as she was racing through Paris and I decided to stake out a bit before leaping into action. Gotta assess the scene, right, Milady?” Cat Noir answered casually.

All of a sudden, the distinct chirping of Ladybug’s earrings and Queen Bee’s hair pin went off simultaneously.

“Sounds like I have to get back to my dinner party before _somebody_ interrupted!” Queen Bee exclaimed before running back into the mansion.

“I better go, too, but…” Ladybug paused. She then turned to Cat Noir and murmured into his ear, _“Tell them the truth: Lila wanted to be akumatized! As much as I hate to say it, she is definitely not a victim. We need to be careful! Something needs to be done, but what?”_

 _“Understood, Milady,”_ Cat Noir affirmed with a nod of his head and a smile. Even in a soft tone, there was a timbre to his voice — or maybe it was just his purring.

 _“Thanks, kitty,_ ” Ladybug said with a smile of her own and a little clandestine scratch under Cat Noir’s chin.

Ladybug then threw her yo-yo out and swung around the Agreste mansion, away from cameras and windows and transformed into Marinette.

Tikki, exhausted, laid in Marinette’s hands. Still, she mustered the strength to say, “As long as Lila stays in Italy, she won’t be akumatized.”

“Hold on, Tikki! We’re going back to the dinner party now!” Marinette urged.

With that, Marinette managed to sneak back into the mansion (nobody noticed since they were all too busy listening to Cat Noir. Marinette noticed how the police officers standing behind Lila were now becoming more defensive. However, Lila wasn’t angry; she seemed...disappointed?

Rena Rouge and Cat Noir dispersed. The dinner party resumed when Adrien stepped out of the kitchens, announcing that he was now locking the doors and covering the windows now that the Agreste mansion had reporters lurking around.

“I’m sorry that thing with Lila had to happen,” Marinette said at last, trying to use the momentum of the newfound buzz in the room to strike up a conversation with Adrien.

“It’s no problem,” Adrien dismissed. “I hear they’re gonna place Lila under house arrest in Italy. Guess our heroes won’t be worrying about her for the time being.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Marinette admitted, raising a glass of water to her lips.

“Other than that, are you enjoying the party?” Adrien asked.

“Oh, of course! The food is delicious, and your place has a great atmosphere!” Marinette complimented. She almost added, _“And you’re here beside me! What could be better?!”_

After a few moments, Marinette suddenly blurted, “I’m gonna miss you, Adrien!” before she realized her mistake and covered her mouth with her fingertips.

“I’m gonna miss you, too, Marinette,” Adrien returned. His voice had a dreamy, lifted tone to it, and when Marinette forced herself to look into his eyes, they gazed at her in a serene way — which made her blush even more.

“R-really?!” Marinette squeaked.

“Of course! Why would I lie about something like that?” Adrien nearly laughed as he took a sip of red wine from his glass.

It was a strange chuckle; he smiled and let out a huff of air, but it felt so...disconnected. As if the laugh got lost on his lips.

Marinette found herself giggling in return. She raised her glass of rosé towards him a little and said, _“Santé!****”_

For that split moment before Adrien clinked his glass of wine to hers and returned the toast, Marinette saw that beautiful, makeshift filter of Adrien through her wine glass. Her heart fluttered in her chest yet ached; oh, _why_ did her crush on him have to return _now?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *The bac is a big "high school" exit exam in France. Basically an admittance test into higher level education  
> **"Tchin tchin" is an informal way of cheers for drinking in France. It is a transliteration of a Chinese invitation to drink, picked up by the French after the Second Opium War  
> ***"Gattino" is Italian for “kitty”  
> ****"Santé" literally means "health" and is another way of cheers or toasting in France. It is short for "À vos santé", which means "to your health" (because it's a toast haha)


	3. Voilà le Portrait Sans Retouche

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya, y'all! I have some pictures for the loft apartment described in the chapter, so check out those links! Yes, I did build the house in The Sims, and I was inspired by a plan I saw on Instagram by arqui_maquetas! Thanks!

Marinette could not be a part of Adrien’s farewell troupe; she was too busy packing up to move into her new apartment.

Instead, she watched the broadcast of Adrien’s departure on her screen at home. Marinette, holding a full box of clothes in her lap, sighed and rested her head on it as she watched Adrien board a private jet heading for England. The headline along the bottom of the screen reminded Marinette of her loss:

“ **PARIS’ OWN SUPERMODEL & SON OF GABRIEL AGRESTE HEADS TO OXFORD**”

At one point, Adrien turned to look back everybody and gave a wave to the cameras and to the cheering (and sobbing) crowd.  He had on sunglasses (despite the rather cloudy day), a light jacket made out of black synthetic leather (brandishing his father’s brand), plaid-patterned tight pants with the ends of the pants rolled up to reveal his ankles, and boat shoes; as a striking accent, an aqua blue scarf hung loosely around his neck —  _her_ scarf that  _she_ made him! Marinette found herself holding a hand to her computer screen.

“Marinette!” Tikki snapped her Chosen One back to earth. “Adrien’ll come back! And you have his number! You can still talk to him!”

“He’s wearing my scarf…!” Marinette said dreamily.

Tikki smiled with a shake of her head. The kwami of creation pried her human’s fingers off of the large monitor.

“Gabriel Agreste is gonna be here in half an hour, Marinette!” Tikki exclaimed. “You better hurry! You still haven’t finished packing up!”

“You’re right!” Marinette exclaimed, her eyes widening and her back straightening. “I still have to pack up my sewing supplies, my dressform... _my computer!”_

Tikki giggled as she shook her head again. Oh, how she  _adored_ Marinette! Luckily, Marinette had already packed up all of her clothes, toiletries, accessories — except the stuff she was wearing, of course. Her dad already helped her with moving out her chaise longue. Her bed, desk, and vanity table were staying at home.

In a tangle of wires, Marinette gently threw her sewing machine into its original packaging and shoved her computer monitor, keyboard, and mouse into its case. Using her foot to open the trapdoor to her room (since her hands were now full with  _three_ boxes), she shouted, “Dad! I could use some help, please!”

 _“Coming, sweetie!”_ came her father’s response.

* * *

Ladybug knelt atop the Arc de Triomphe, watching the sea of mind-controlled fans race down the Champs-Elysées. Leading them was the Grayling, self-proclaimed as Adrien Agreste’s biggest fan and his mission was to direct his fan-crazed army to England.

Marinette had  _just_ placed her final box into her new apartment when she heard the screams from outside. Lo and behold, an akumatized supervillain showed up, and a familiar face, too: Wayhem. Declaring himself the Grayling, he seemed to be able to “akumatize” victims of his own; if he saw somebody flaunting Agreste apparel or anything related to Adrien, he would cast a butterfly-shaped bubble of energy towards the victim with a sceptre or cane of sorts. It was no help that Queen Bee was mini-akumatized by the Grayling, constantly swinging around with her top like the Grayling’s own patrol.

“What’s the game plan, Lady-B?” Carapace asked, suddenly appearing at her side. “Shellter?”

“No,” Ladybug hissed, holding her arm out in front of Carapace when he reached for his shield. “You won’t be able to hold that big a crowd for long. We need a plan.”

“What we need is Adrien,” Rena Rouge approached from behind, flute poised.

“Geez, we make a lot of Adrien illusions,” Carapace commented snarkily. “I’m starting to think you like him more than your own boyfriend.”

Ladybug couldn’t help but grin externally and squeal internally. Rena Rouge slugged Carapace on the arm before pressing her lips against her flute.

 _“Mir — !”_ She exclaimed, but Ladybug thrust her arm out in front of the vixen superheroine.

“Wait! We need to think about this, and we need all the brainpower we can get,” Ladybug advised, sliding her yo-yo open to its calling feature.

“Cat Noir, where are you!?” Ladybug hissed into the yo-yo while Carapace and Rena Rouge kept an eye on the Grayling and his army. “There’s a new akuma out, and we need you!”

Alas, it was no use. Her voicemails meant nothing if Cat Noir didn’t even look at his staff. Oh, where was that scoundrel?!

“Ladybug, what’s wrong?” Rena Rouge asked.

“Did you get a hold of him?” Carapace tagged on.

“No, I didn’t,” Ladybug sighed, shaking her head. “You guys try calling him. I’m going to think of something.”

With that, Ladybug flung her yo-yo straight up into the air and shouted,  _“Lucky Charm!”_

A long butterfly net fell into her hands; its wooden-plastic handle and rim had a glossy layer of red paint with black spots. The mesh net also had a similar coloration.

“A net? What can we do with this?” Ladybug wondered aloud.

As she gazed around, she realized that they could  _trap_ the Grayling with her Lucky net by luring him and the army with a Mirage of Adrien.

“All right, here’s what we’re gonna do,” Ladybug said, standing up. “We’re going to use that Adrien Mirage now and bring the Grayling and his army here, to the  _Place Charles de Gaulle._ Carapace, you’ll use your Shellter to isolate the Grayling, and then we’ll use this net to catch him and prevent any mini-akumas from getting out!”

“Hell yeah!” Rena Rouge exclaimed enthusiastically while Carapaca agreed, “Sounds like a plan, LB!”

“Rena Rouge, you’re up!” Ladybug cued.

_“Mirage!”_

Adrien manifested himself from the end of Rena Rouge’s flute.

“Okay, now we need to publicize that Adrien’s here,” Ladybug said.

“I got this.” Rena Rouge reached for her phone and smirked. “Nobody knows who I really am behind the screen.”

Rena Rouge then leapt down to the ground and rushed to take a picture of the illusion Adrien, who wandered around the Arc de Triomphe.

“Hey, everybody. Adrien’s giving one last farewell at the Arc de Triomphe!” Rena Rouge said aloud as she typed the caption to her post to her blog.

The moment she hit send, they could feel the rumble of the streets as the Grayling’s army rampaged for their idol. When the Grayling took a single step into the  _Place Charles de Gaulle_ from the  _Champs-Elysée,_ Ladybug shouted, “Now, Carapace!”

_“Shell-ter!”_

A massive green dome surrounded the entire  _Place,_ cutting the Grayling off from his army, who pounded on the energy field. Carapace struggled with every hit. Ladybug readied her net and brought it down over the Grayling right as he prepared to release another wave of mini-akumas. Ladybug stepped on the handle with both feet so that the Garyling could not escape. The whole net bustled as the Grayling was engulfed in his own akumas.

“Now what?” Rena Rouge asked.

“Where could the akuma be?” Carapace added.

“I’m betting that staff,” Ladybug declared as she gave the Grayling a kick. As expected, he tried to use his cane to block the kick, causing it to snap into two.

The mini-akumas suddenly swarmed and became a single purple butterfly. Ladybug lifted the net from the Grayling and prepared her yo-yo.   
“Time to de-evilize!” She swung her yo-yo around and caught the akuma. “Bye-bye, little butterfly!” With a throw of the net into the air, she shouted, “Miraculous Ladybug!”

The net burst into a swarm of ladybugs on pink glitter and restored the city and its mini-akumatized citizens back to normal.

The three Miraculouses chirped simultaneously; Ladybug gently touched her ear, Rena Rouge put her hand against her chest, and Carapace checked his bracelet as if it were a watch. The three put their fists together — declaring, “Pound it!” — and parted ways. As Ladybug yo-yo’d her way back home, she found herself gazing up as an airplane flew overhead. She wondered if Adrien was in there, if he was watching the chaos and its resolve below. She wondered if he was thinking about her.

* * *

It took a week to finally get moved in and settled down in her new apartment. Marinette was still convinced she was dreaming as she danced around her  _massive_ one-bedroom apartment.

It was a loft style apartment with[ a living room](https://imgur.com/i414xVo) and [adjacent kitchen](https://imgur.com/lHQbEX6) below and an upstairs section with [a bedroom](https://imgur.com/47nmNJs),[bathroom](https://imgur.com/7VeLcJL), and (Marinette’s favorite) [a secret room hidden behind a bookshelf-door](https://imgur.com/aUNYoXM). Gabriel Agreste had shown it to her, saying that  _“every artist needs a place to work”_ and that  _“secrecy can create the most extensive ideas.”_ [[Upper Floor](https://imgur.com/rwNOEjH) ; [Lower Floor](https://imgur.com/akKoQe5) ; [Floor Plan 1](https://imgur.com/KSR29Fh) ; [Floor Plan 2](https://imgur.com/nOhxXiS)]

“It’s too bad Mr. Agreste only leased a one-bedroom apartment,” Marinette sighed to Tikki as she set down a flat vase of pink flowers. “I would’ve  _totally_ shared with Alya.”

“But you know how much she talks about being with Nino,” Tikki said. “Do you  _really_ want that? You’d hear them all night!”

Marinette grimaced at the thought. She tried to calm herself down by fluffing the pink and white flowers in the vase.

“You know, I figured Adrien leaving would bring around more akumas,” Marinette said to Tikki, “but it’s been a whole week and there hasn’t been a sight of one ever since the Grayling!”

“Maybe Hawk Moth’s also a big fan of Adrien!” Tikki giggled, which caused Marinette to join in.

This time, Marinette’s room would be decorated with  _actual_ inspiration images; no more Adrien Agreste everywhere! She recalled that devastating moment when her old room was blasted on television and how Adrien saw all those pictures of him on her walls! Not anymore! If only a TV crew could come by her new apartment now! It was still clean and new and perfect — yet unlived in. It still felt cold, partly because it was so grand but also because Marinette was still getting used to living alone — well, with only Tikki, of course.

Marinette grabbed her purse and quickly ushered Tikki into it.

“Where are we going, Marinette?” Tikki asked eagerly. “You don’t start work till next week!”

“I’m hanging out with Luka, remember?” Marinette smiled. “We’re going to a cafe to catch up!”

“Moving on from Adrien already?” Tikki said slyly.

Marinette didn’t know how to respond to that. She simply smiled, closed the purse, and walked out of her brand new, decorated apartment.

* * *

Marinette wasn’t so sure how she felt when she first read the headlines all over Paris — all over the  _world_.

She was simply walking down the Pont Alexandre III with Luka, their fingers intertwined. The beautiful colors of spring emerged all around them, and all sorts of flower vendors popped up at every corner. Marinette’s first year at ECSCP was drawing to a close, and thank  _goodness_ it was. Marinette recalled her first day and getting flashbacks to her younger days in school when she saw Chloe and Sabrina sitting in her class. Marinette told Luka all about it, and he simply mused at her story.

“I’m not one to gossip,” Luka had said with a strum of some dissonant chord on his new acoustic guitar, “but I remember my sister and Rose talking a few weeks ago about how Chloe Bourgeois failed the bac.”

“What?! Then why is she at one of the best fashion schools in Paris!?” Marinette had exclaimed.

“Take a guess.” Luka had smirked and then strummed a more resolute chord. “It rhymes with  _‘Layer of Ferris’_.”

 _Of course,_ Chloe would. Queen Bee still had yet to affect Chloe’s sense of honesty — but hey, it was better than Lila, who was reported to still be under house arrest after she tried to break out of her own home.

Marinette still couldn’t believe it: a boyfriend! They only started dating back in January (so it had only been a few months since May was now underway), but it never felt so exhilarating! Marinette didn’t realize how blind she had been to Luka this whole time she was crushing on Adrien; Luka was understanding and gentlemanly, despite his grunge-punk-rock look.

Actually, Luka didn’t really intend on a rock look; it was just how he felt. He did admit to Marinette that he was afraid of piercings other than on his ears (he confessed that when Marinette joking said he should get snake bites). On dates, Marinette discovered that Luka’s wardrobe rivaled that of any fashion model, even Adrien! Back in February, Luka actually modeled for Marinette’s winter project!

A new face became plastered all over Marinette’s walls, but this time she was actually in the pictures with him. Marinette had several pictures of Luka modeling men’s and women’s fashion creations of hers, of him and her on dates, them with Alya and Nino on double dates. She had never felt so happy; why did she waste so much time fawning over Adrien when Luka made her feel just as bubbly?

On this warm May day, Marinette wore a short pink skirt with a sleeveless blouse and a sheer kimono-like robe of gold; Luka wore a light sweater with the sleeves pushed up, an open vest with silver chains connecting the zippers, and ripped jeans. A flower vendor at the end of the Pont Alexandre III was cutting up flower stems when Marinette and Luka walked by. However, the vendor figured that one flower was not worthy of selling and tossed it off to the side on the sidewalk. Luka picked it up.

“There’s beauty in everything,” he said profoundly as he fingered the petals of the daffodil. He then tucked the brilliant yellow flower behind Marinette’s ear. Marinette giggled and kissed his cheek.

That was when Marinette saw the bold headline on a screen on a souvenir vendor’s truck:

“ **SUPERMODEL ADRIEN AGRESTE ANNOUNCES RELATIONSHIP WITH OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST FENCER, KAGAMI TSUGURI** ”

“Hey, we know those two,” Luka commented humorously.

“And so does the whole world!” Marinette giggled in response.

Inside, however, she was… well, how  _did_ she feel?

It was a mixture of happiness, disappointment, and horror. She was happy for the new couple, but...it wasn’t  _her_. True, Marinette did see a lot of paparazzi pictures floating around about Adrien with girls in his new Oxford life, but nothing had ever been declared official until now. Of course, everybody knew Kagami and her elite skills — and Kagami spoke with her actions; no need for lying like Lila. Marinette still bristled at the memories.

Marinette, trying to calm herself down, then recalled the Frozer incident and gazed to Luka. Oh, how could she have been so blind to him! How could she have resented Kagami so! She was so... _entranced_ by Adrien, put under some spell.

“You know, there haven’t been any akumatizations for a while,” Luka suddenly said. “Sometimes I’ll see Ladybug, Rena Rouge, Queen Bee, Carapace around, but I’ve noticed no Cat Noir.”

“Really?” Marinette asked, intrigued at this news of Cat Noir. True, she hadn’t seen that rogue cat in a while. “I’m sure he does patrol like the rest of them, but at night!”

“Makes sense.” Luka shrugged. “By the way, your apartment has great acoustics, babe! The music festival is coming up in a couple of months, and I was wondering if I could practice at your place! Don’t worry, I won’t bring my electric guitar since my place already has the sound system.”

“Of course, you silly duck! Do you even need to ask?” Marinette giggled and kissed his cheek.

“Always gotta ask,” Luka responded coolly with a smile, which made Marinette’s heart burst. The two then made their way back to Marinette’s apartment.

Marinette recalled how Luka was shifting to acoustic guitar, saying that he wanted to get in touch to something more delicate, more intimate within him. She was excited even to think about hearing Luka’s playing! There was something truly mesmerizing about his guitar-playing; it was as if Luka was a siren and the guitar his voice.

Luka made a career out of playing guitar. On the weekends, the band Kitty Section (well, without their keyboardist Adrien) would perform gigs all across Paris. Marinette knew they were an Internet sensation mostly because of their irony: a cute name, an innocent look, but a hardcore sound. Their stages varied from performances in local cafes to secret catacomb raves, and now for the festival, they would be performing in front of the Eiffel Tower!

When Marinette wasn’t busy, she would be designing Kitty Section’s outfits. For their first ever professional gig back in November, Juleka and Rose had asked Marinette to create a look that would — in Juleka’s words — “totally oppose” their sound. Marinette was inspired by lolita fashion, which made both Rose and Juleka light up.

Marinette sighed as she stared at a picture over her desk of Kitty Section’s first performance, her eyes on Luka in a white, extravagant suit with all sorts of ribbons and lace. Even his guitar was white, fitting the group’s innocent appearance.

“Still can’t get over this cool secret entrance,” Luka commented as he walked through the door disguised as a bookshelf that led to Marinette’s atelier. The walls were lined with clothing racks, a board for Marinette to pin her ideas up, her chaise longue, a large mirror, her dressform, and a platform for potential models to stand on.

Luka then sat down at the chaise longue and began to practice a song Marinette didn’t recognize.

“Did Rose write a new song?” Marinette asked as she sketched a new look for Kitty Section.

“No, this is something I’ve been working on. It’s a guitar interlude for our festival performance,” Luka responded, shifting between two chords as if he were practicing it.

Marinette sat there, staring at her boyfriend as he carried on. She felt like she was floating on a cloud and being carried to some ethereal kingdom in the mountains. She could feel the cold air fill and stab her lungs like a winter day, but the air was crisp and fresh, unlike the polluted Parisian air. Her body felt as light and fragile as a feather.

Not even standing in that crowd in July, surrounded by hot, swaying bodies, could take away that feeling of Luka’s interlude, the story he painted in her mind and the journey he took her on using only his guitar. The crowd was dead silent, equally as mesmerized by Luka’s performance. Marinette was also entranced by Luka’s appearance: dressed in all white, sitting alone on a stool centerstage, a bright spotlight shining from behind and below him, and the Eiffel Tower twinkling behind the stage. It was... _perfect._ Marinette managed to break from the spell to capture a few pictures — more for her wall and for Alya’s blogs.

When the familiar final chord rang and swept over the hundreds of people standing and listening, Luka froze. Only when he stood up from his stool did the crowd erupt into thunderous applause and ear-shattering screams. Luka held up one hand in a simple wave to the crowd and dropped into a bow. When he straightened his back, his eyes fell right on Marinette, and a smile spread across his lips.

The rest of Kitty Section’s performance felt more invigorating after Luka’s interlude from both the band members and the audience. People all around Marinette screamed lyrics louder, jumped higher, raised their arms more. Luka’s solo interlude had been a palette cleanser but for the ears...an eardrum cleanser?

When Kitty Section sang their last song, Marinette was surprised to see the crowd still having enough vitality to go wild with applause, cheering, and whistling. Marinette then pushed her way backstage to reunite with her friends and boyfriend, hoping to beat the swarm of fans. She found the band, still dressed in white (but their makeup almost completely erased by sweat), standing before a figure in black with gold accents and purple hair: Jagged Stone!

As she approached, Marinette heard Ivan tell Jagged, “Sorry, Mr. Stone, I can’t. Rugby takes up a lot of time, and university, too.”

“Rugby, eh? Ya know,  _I_ used to be quite the rugby player,” Jagged said proudly. “I could give you some tips!”

“Really?!” Ivan’s eyes lit up.

“Of course!” Jagged exclaimed. “So we’re down a drummer — no biggie! Offer still stand?”

“Mr. Stone, I have university, too,” Juleka responded. Marinette recalled that Juleka was attending one of the biggest cosmetology schools in Paris, _École d'Esthétique Cosmétique Guinot Mary Cohr_. It was no surprise since Juleka was the makeup artist of the band.

“I’d actually like to stay in Paris!” Rose squeaked. “I’ll be traveling a lot soon with all my work!”

Marinette recalled how Rose had actually just returned from a month-long trip from the Middle East; Rose was big on humanitarian aid outside of Kitty Section.

“I’m glad to see you all doing your own things! You know, when I first started at as a performer, I barely had time to do things that I wanted to do. That’s why I do all sorts of things now, but I wish I was good at more things than rocking,” Jagged confessed with a drop of wisdom. “But what about you, Luka? Your solo was...words can’t describe it! You’ve got some real talent here, boy! We could play duets! You could totally play that soothin’ solo of yours!”

“I’d love to, Mr. Stone, but I can’t. I — Marinette!” Luka was saying until he caught Marinette watching.

“Ah, Marinette, there’s my girl!” Jagged Stone turned and beamed, embracing Marinette. “Kitty Section ‘ere was tellin’ me all about the outfits you planned for ‘em! Rockin’ looks!”

Marinette grinned sheepishly and thanked Jagged.

“What’s going on?” She asked the group of rock stars before her.

“You see, Marinette, I was blown away by Kitty Section’s performance, so I invited ‘em to be my opening act for my world tour next year,” Jagged explained, “but it seems like they’re busy. Oh! I ‘eard you got into one of the best fashion schools in Paris! Good job, Marinette! I knew you could do it! I’m proud of you!”

“Thank you, Jagged!” Marinette beamed, but she turned to Luka with concerned, inquisitive eyes and asked, “Are you sure?”

“I’d rather stay with you,” Luka replied with a soft smile.

“But it’s always been your dream to play with Jagged Stone!” Marinette exclaimed in utter disbelief.

“But that would mean I have to leave you,” Luka said, his voice wispy and hushed.

“This is your  _dream,”_ Marinette pleaded, grabbing his hands. “I get to live my dream; I want you to live yours! I don’t want you to live a life of regret. This chance won’t come around again.”

Luka’s brilliant aqua-blue eyes broke from Marinette’s own bluebell ones, briefly gazing to the floor. His face had such a rare tenderness now.

“You know this means we can’t be together,” Luka commented, his voice straining a little. “You’re already busy as is, and with this tour, I — “

“I’ll always be with you,” Marinette reassured, cutting him off with a peck on the lips, “and I know you will always be there for me. I just don’t want you to live with this regret for the rest of your life.”

For a moment, it felt like nobody else was with them; it was just them in their tragic goodbye. Marinette could feel something in her chest swell and threaten to burst. She and Luka weren’t together for long, and maybe that was what made it all the more tragic; they cared about each other so much.

“The same goes for you, Marinette,” Luka said at last. “Live your life without regrets. Do what you want. Are you sure this is what you want?”

“I want you to be happy most of all,” Marinette affirmed, a smile spreading across her lips and tears filling her eyes.

Luka cupped her face in his large, warm, rough hands; he used his thumbs to wipe her tears away and kissed her forehead.

“And I want you to be happy, even if it’s without me,” Luka said, resigning to Marinette. He then pulled Marinette into a tight embrace. “I love you, Marinette.”

“I love you, too, Luka,” Marinette whispered into his white coat.

When they finally parted, the now-former couple turned to see Rose, Ivan, Juleka, and Penny in tears.

“It’s so tragically romantic!” Rose cried, Juleka placing a hand on Rose’s shoulder. Ultimately, Rose buried her face in Juleka’s chest.

“Watch it! You’ll stain Marinette’s clothes!” Juleka muttered, although tears ran down her own face.

Penny, wiping her face with the back of her hand, gingerly touched Luka by the shoulder, beginning to explain to him how the next nine months would plan out. Marinette watched them start away; she was brought back to earth when Jagged Stone stood in front of her, placing a firm hand on her shoulder.

“That was a very generous and sweet thing of you to do, Marinette,” Jagged told her, his own face soft. “It’s not easy to let go of the people you love, ‘specially when they have their own plans.”

Something in Jagged’s face told Marinette that he experienced this kind of pain several times. He then drew away and chased Luka and Penny. He drew an arm around Luka’s shoulder, vibrantly asking, “So, whaddya call that solo of yours?”

“The interlude? Well, I never thought of a name for it before...” Luka said He then looked over his shoulder, his eyes meeting Marinette’s and his lips pulling up in a smile. “...Marinette’s Lullaby.”

As if Marinette’s heart could break anymore! She suddenly found herself embraced on both sides by Juleka and Rose, Ivan’s heavy hands on her shoulders. The group was silent, but the heartbreak was loud and clear. Marinette began to tear up even more with this overwhelming support surrounding her.

Marinette looked down at her phone, seeing the pictures she had taken of Luka performing by himself light up. The image was so perfect, it hardly needed editing. She immediately sent the image to Penny, saying that it would be good promotion.

 _“TYSM, M! We know you’re busy with university, but please send us outfit recs!”_ came the response.  _“And you have a very big heart, M. Never forget that.”_

Marinette felt the tears pool in her eyes once more. So this was what real heartbreak felt like…

* * *

 “Wow, Luka’s good,” Adrien sighed, resting his head against one hand.

He was watching a livestream of Jagged’s performance in London. On his triple-monitor computer setup, he had the livestream playing on the left-most; his homework on the centermost; and a video call with Kagami on the rightmost.

The couple had been together for a year now. The two had to maintain a long distance relationship when Kagami returned to Japan for her higher education, but it worked out...generally.

 _“I really don’t understand how you can listen to that noise,”_  Kagami’s stern voice came through his headset.  _“Although Jagged’s guitar renditions of the Moonlight Sonata blew me away! And his duet with Luka on the Vivaldi cello concerto was really good, too!”_

“Yeah, Jagged’s classical covers are always the best!” Adrien added before tuning back into the rock concert.

 _“Are you sure you can focus with that?”_ Kagami asked, her voice full of concern rather than scorn.

“Music always helps me work faster,” Adrien replied slyly.

_“I’m just worried about you. Focusing is like threading a needle.”_

“I’m keeping my eye open,” Adrien added, quick to play on words. “And what about you? Your studies must be hard, too, especially over there.”

_“Yes, but I am in an environment I am comfortable in. You’re out there, all on your own when you’ve hardly ever had the chance step outside the nest. My grandfather once told me that a bird who tries to fly without practicing is bound to fall.”_

“Thanks for your concern, Kagami, but I can handle this! Like I said, this music helps me relax.”

_“Well...alright. I just want you to succeed. I know how much your father’s business means to you. I should get going now. It’s getting pretty late now.”_

“Good night, Kagami. Love you.”

_“Love you, too.”_

And the call hung up. The screen closed automatically, revealing the Ladyblog behind it. Adrien, for kicks, decided to refresh it. Although he was with Kagami, he still wanted to check in with Ladybug. Could he ever get over his adoration for her?

A large text post appeared with the title,  _“_ **_Where in the World is Cat Noir?_ ** _”_ Curious, Adrien opened the post to read it in full.

_“Hey, everyone! This is a wordy post today, but I’ve noticed something afoot in Paris: a missing black cat! With new heroes like Queen Bee, Carapace, and Rena Rouge to help Ladybug, we tend to forget Ladybug’s original partner: Cat Noir!”_

Adrien winced at that. Did they? On the Ladyblog, he saw all the incredible adventures his heroic friends had without him. Most of it was civilian work, though. Few akumas ever appeared. Hawk Moth had gone under the radar. But why?

_“We might not appreciate our kitty since he is literally bad luck, but Cat Noir, we want you come back! To prove it, here are personal messages from your friends!”_

Three videos were embedded below. The first came from Queen Bee — and it was obvious that she was forced to do it.

 _“Yes, Cat Noir, I suppose we_ do  _need you. It’s not the same without you and your Cataclysm. It makes everything easier,”_ she recited. She was sitting on the rooftop of the  _Grand Paris. “Okay, Sabrina, turn it off! We can edit it this out later.”_

Rena Rouge, from a park:  _“Cat Noir, we miss you. We don’t know where you went and if you’re even watching this, but please know that you’re part of the Miraculous team!”_

Carapace, from the roof of some building:  _“Dude, where are you? I miss you a lot, bro. I already lost a good friend of mine, and I wanted to be more than just your partner! I wanted to be your friend! Things aren’t too bad now, but even if things do get worse if you come back, then so be it! We are a_ team,  _and we need you back, dude.”_

Ladybug’s video was the longest, judging from the time stamp. Adrien was almost afraid to hear what she had to say. She was definitely in the Eiffel Tower based on the thumbnail, but she was there. Speaking to him. Adrien clicked play and watched as Ladybug walk away from the camera to stand at a decent distance from it. She faced the camera, straightened her back, and cleared her throat. Her beautiful voice came through and filled Adrien’s ears.

_“Cat Noir, whatever I did to drive you away, I’m sorry.”_

Already, Adrien’s heart broke. He wanted to reach through the screen and tell her that she could never do him wrong.

_“We’ve been partners ever since we first received our Miraculous. I know it must have been hard when I brought along Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Queen Bee. You must have felt as though I were replacing, but that’s not true! I’m sure the others will say that we’re a team, but they can’t say they were the original duo._

_“I miss you, Cat Noir. We’ve been through so much together, and I always find myself saying your name and forgetting you’re not there. You may be a black cat and bring bad luck, but I don’t care. Akumas don’t appear anymore, and people believe your bad luck brought them out, but I don’t care! No matter what anybody says about you, I need you here by my side. I want to be by your side! That’s why I’m the good luck side. We balance each other out. It may not look like I need you, but I do. You’re my kitty after all, and I’m your Bugaboo. Gosh, it feels weird to say it, but I can hear you now and see you smirk when you say it._

_“I always hear your jokes in the back of my head. I can practically hear what you’re about to say, and I think it’s you, but it’s not. You’re not here, but you’ve left your mark on all of us — especially me. I’d do anything to have you here with us again. It sounds like you’re gone or something, but I know you’re out there, Cat Noir. You’re out there watching this, so please come back. Cats may leave home for a while, but they always find their way back home. So please, Kitty, come home._

_“Bug out.”_

With that, the video ended. Adrien’s gaze stayed on his screen, and he found himself breathing heavily. He pressed the replay button and watched Ladybug speak to him again. A unfiltered Ladybug before him, opening her heart to the whole world. It was bleeding, and he had to be the one to resuscitate it. But how could he? He was already working hard on the accelerated graduation program which was extremely draining as is.

Adrien took a look at the time at the bottom corner of one of his computer monitors. 7 PM. Okay, so he had about two hours before his father would do his daily check-up calls on him. He figured it would be a good time to stretch his legs.

He walked over to a dresser in the sweet suite-like apartment near campus that his father rented out for him. Of course, Adrien still took extreme caution when it came to his Miraculous. And besides, it wasn’t like Oxford was teeming with akumas. He’d occasionally bring out Plagg for a nightly patrol, but he was so exhausted that most of the time, Plagg stayed cooped up.

The moment the ring touched the skin of his finger, Plagg flew out and hugged Adrien’s face almost violently.

“I never thought I’d say this, but  _boy_ am I glad to be out of there! Where have you  _been?!”_ Plagg exclaimed.

“University’s tough, Plagg,” Adrien tried his best at an apology. “I’m sorry, but hey, it’s time for a little nightwatch, don’t you agree? Plagg, claws out!”

Cat Noir ran to a window and climbed out of it. He ran along the roof of buildings of brick and stone and traced his way back to the university grounds. His favorite place was the top of the spire of the University Church, and it offered the best views. He was surprised people never spotted him, but he didn’t mind. He allowed himself to rest, one leg bent with an arm resting on that hiked knee while the other leg dangled off the side of the spire. He leaned his head against the ancient structure, still seeing Ladybug and her genuine, sad face and still hearing her plead and bleed. He saw her in his mind, clear and brilliant and beautiful. It was her in all her glory, unmarred, unfiltered, untouched.

As much as he tried, he couldn’t let go of her. Which meant he had to let go of someone else, but that wouldn’t be so easy. Cat Noir just closed his eyes, hoping to escape it all atop this tower.


	4. De l'Homme Auquel J'Appartiens

_ “My Lady, I got your message. Everybody’s messages, actually. It means a lot to me, and don’t get me wrong, I  _ want  _ to come back, but I’m handling something bigger right now. I’m already trying my best to hurry home, but you can’t always rush everything. Thanks for all of your support. The cat will be out of the bag soon!” _

Ladybug sighed, letting the video message loop on her yo-yo as she leaned against the railing of the Eiffel Tower. The Trocadéro before her was crawling with people pacing back and forth. She could tell the civilians from the tourists; the tourists were standing still or walking slowly, taking pictures and relishing in the glory of the tower before them while the civilians were forced to brush past them all, hurrying to their destination since the tower was a familiar sight to them. Perhaps, in her civilian form, Parisians thought  _ she  _ was a tourist. She recalled the countless hours she sat there on the steps of the Trocadéro and staring up at the Eiffel Tower. Or perhaps tourists believed she was a typical Parisian since she had the time to sit down and sketch and plan and create while they had to jump from one location to the other. 

Hawk Moth was generally silent. The last akuma the Miraculous team defeated was only a few days ago, but it was the first one in weeks. Ladybug could count the number of akumatizations in the past year on one hand. Ladybug found herself worrying over Hawk Moth — the irony of it all! 

As Ladybug gazed out on the skylines of Paris one more time before calling it a day, she listened to Cat Noir’s message in full. The date of the recording was the day after Alya posted the Miraculous team’s videos for that sneaky kitty to come home, which meant that Cat Noir was still out there. It had been four months since then, but Ladybug’s heart still swelled with hope. 

Paris was quiet, and the Miraculous team found themselves saving people from non-akuma crimes — which ran aplenty. Robberies, burglaries, the occasional vandalism. The worse end were the attempted assaults or murders, and there were too few of the Miraculous team to stop them all. Ladybug felt guilty over the crimes that slipped under their radar, but had she ever considered them before in her youth? When Ladybug was only meant for stopping akumas?

Recently, Ladybug came to terms that there was always someone in need of helping. She was still struggling with the fact that she couldn’t save everyone who needed help, but it was better than believing she was useless without an akuma flying around. 

Ladybug swung her way back to her civilian apartment. She sure missed having a convenient balcony, but the bathroom window on the second floor of the loft was large enough to fit through. She transformed back into Marinette, figuring she should start on the fall collection project — the first major assignment of her second year at ECSCP. She had to work with Chloe for it, which Marinette was less than eager for, but at least Chloe couldn’t steal her ideas (although Marinette was still wary that perhaps Chloe would claim she did more work than Marinette). 

Marinette found herself completely stumped, however. What was in style for the fall? Muted, darker colors, yes, but what else? She needed inspiration, but Luka was still busy with his tour with Jagged Stone, and even Chloe couldn’t offer any advice beyond  _ “comfy, but not pajamas. Warm, but not bundled up for winter. Light, but not for spring or summer.”  _ Her notebook was filled with scratched out ideas. Not to mention, their fall was a little warmer than usual. Who could she talk to that knew a typical fall and its fashion well? Somebody who knew what a crisp, cool autumn meant. Leaves that turned brown, yellow, orange, red and rained down. The trees in the streets of Paris were started to yellow, but it wasn’t enough. Fashion had to be designed in advance of the peak of the seasons, and Marinette was running out of time. 

And then it hit her. Someone who lived further north and in a place typically colder than Paris. Marinette ran to her phone (that she had thrown onto her bed to avoid distractions) and began to text a number she never had the guts to interact with before: Adrien’s. 

_“Hey, Adrien! Long time no talk! Hate to start off this way, but I need some inspiration for a fall collection, and I was wondering what autumn is like in_ _Oxford!”_

Her thumb hovered over the “send” symbol. Suddenly, a flash of red zipped in front of Marinette’s eyes as Tikki pressed the button for her.

“Tikki!” Marinette exclaimed.

“What? You had to do it sooner or later!” The kwami beamed. “Besides, it’s not like it was something as bad as the voicemail you accidentally left him one time.”

“The one that made me steal his phone?” Marinette leaned back in her rolling chair. “Don’t remind me. I’ve been trying to forget a lot of my awful moments in front of them. I mean, how could I have been so stupid?”

“It’s better to know it now than never,” Tikki advised. 

Marinette’s phone buzzed, and she squealed childishly, throwing her phone back down on the bed. And then it buzzed twice, the vibrations slightly muffled but twice as loud thanks to the bed. 

“Oo, he’s a shameless double texter!” Tikki teased. 

“Oh,  _ please,  _ I do worse than that,” Marinette dismissed playfully with a flight of her wrist. 

“Yeah, you multi-text  _ with  _ long paragraphs!” Tikki giggled. 

Marinette tried to be upset, but it was true. Most of Marinette’s conversations were one-sided and leaning heavily on her — except with Alya and Luka. Luka, however, didn’t talk as much to her. He mostly posted on social media, which was understandable with his busy schedule. A part of Marinette’s heart yearned for him back, but she made her choice — and he made his. Still, she missed those deep conversations that came at any time of the day. Luka sure knew how to strike up an existential crisis, but that was something Marinette always admired about Luka. His ability to talk on and on and still have every word  _ mean  _ something. It really matched Marinette’s thinking. Marinette didn’t know it yet, but she was about to find a third person who reciprocated her conversational energy. 

_ “I did a shoot recently when it was sunny last week! Sneak peek at next week’s Vogue issue ;) Sent them to you in email! The color of the leaves are beautiful! Other than that, I can’t help much :( sorry, Marinette but I know who can! _

_ “My cousin runs this travel blog. You’ve probably seen some of his pics, even if you haven’t heard of it haha” _

A third message popped up right as Marinette finished up the second text.

“Seems like Adrien really is a perfect fit for you! Your first text interaction with him, and he already triple-texts!” Tikki continued to play around. Marinette playfully swatted at her kwami. 

The third message was a rich link preview — an image and text that popped up whenever a link URL was sent rather than just the URL (Marinette only knew the technical term thanks to Nino and Alya).The image was of some beautiful, golden-orange sunrise or sunset behind a shaded, foggy forest on a mountainside rolled in the background; the foreground was the rear view of a bust-shot of a young man in a beanie, plaid shirt, scarf, and puffy vest. Already, Marinette was getting ideas for a fall fashion. The text of the rich preview read:  _ “le monde, un huitre.” _

Marinette opened the link, taking her to a blog. The URL on the top read  _ “voyagedagreste.com.”  _ The golden hour image popped up again, surrounded in an ivory frame with a circular icon of a young man (probably the same one in the bust shot) with a camera covering his face. Upon closer inspection, Marinette realized that the mirror shot was actually a reflection in water — a lake, pond, river, she didn’t know. Below the icon read — in a simple yet elegant font: 

_ “ _ **_le monde, un huitre_ ** _ ”* _

That explained the text from the preview. Below, in smaller, italicized font read the subtile:

_ “ses sites, son perle”* _

“Poetic!” Tikki beamed. “I like this cousin of his!”

Marinette clicked the  _ “see more”  _ option of the subtitle/biography.

_ “Felix Agreste. Lone traveler of the world and its wonders. I hope to bring these wonders to others who cannot do the same. Enjoy.” _

Below it were some social media handles to follow. With that, Marinette found herself sucked into the vortex of the beautiful images captured by this Felix Agreste, cousin of Adrien. There was a breathtaking mix of pictures of nature, urban cities, archaeological sites, monuments, historical and cultural sites — everything that made Marinette want to pack her bags and walk out the door. Felix’s pictures were in incredibly high definition — so high that Marinette could almost reach through her screen and  _ be  _ wherever Felix Agreste was. 

Marinette found an image that captured the essence of autumn: the Potala Palace in Tibet surrounded by fiery colors of scarlet leaves against a golden sky with a slight fog. The image was dated rather recently — four days ago. 

Marinette glanced over her shoulder at Tikki, whose mouth was hanging open at the beauty of the image. She giggled at her kwami, placing her fingertips under the kwami’s chin and pressing upwards to close the gaping mouth. 

“I’ll pull up the blog on my computer,” Marinette told Tikki with a smile. “There, you can scroll in a more immersive screen.”

All the while, Marinette messaged Adrien a thank you text and began to follow this Felix on social media. In her sketchbook, Marinette began to sketch autumnal outfits: a plaid button-up under a puffy vest. Dark colored jeans, or a skirt and optional leggings. Boots. A beanie. Inspired by the first image Marinette saw of Felix Agreste. She almost forgot about that  _ Vogue  _ sneak-peek of Adrien. The images were stunning (of course, since it’s Adrien), but they were a little formal for Marinette’s project. Still, Marinette couldn’t help herself from imagining Adrien in a beanie. Now  _ that  _ was a sight for sore eyes.

* * *

 

Kagami had come to visit Adrien during one of her many one-week breaks from university, and it was her last day before returning to Japan. As much as Adrien didn’t want to, he had to. He no longer felt the same way for Kagami as she did with him. Perhaps it had always been this way, and Adrien confused infatuation, fascination, admiration with love. 

The two were walking down a path in a park, a crisp and biting autumn breeze blowing through and chilling them to the bone; winter had come early this year. It was still early November, but it felt like January. The sky was filled with thick, puffy, white clouds that occasionally eclipsed the golden-white sun, plummeting the world into freezing shade. After a while of silent walking, Adrien and Kagami spoke up at the same time.

“We need to talk,” they said in unison before chuckling lightly. 

“Ladies first.” Adrien smiled slightly. 

“Thank you.” Kagami looked down before tucking a lock of her black hair behind her ear, all of it staying in the chunky red scarf around her neck. “It just feels like you’ve been ignoring me recently. I know we’re always separated physically, but I always thought that absence makes the heart grow fonder. I know it’s childish to take it as any indication, nor do you owe me anything, but this is the first time I’ve come to you, and we...haven’t had…”

“No, no,” Adrien tried to relieve Kagami of embarrassing herself. “Kagami, it’s my fault. You shouldn’t feel sorry. I’ve been neglecting you. And I should explain myself.”

Kagami’s eyes just watched him, her lips slightly parted in some slight shock. Oh boy, Adrien didn’t think this would be as hard as he anticipated. Mostly because he didn’t expect this reaction from Kagami. Kagami, who always forbade public displays of affection. Kagami, who never called him by a nickname and encouraged him to do the same. Kagami, who made everything feel more like a ritual. (although, Adrien did have to admit, once he got past that hardened shell of formality, Kagami could unleash unbridled passion. And he had been seeing that side of her more often). Yet here she was, teetering on a cliff of fear. Adrien was about to break her heart. 

“Kagami, I...I have to be honest with you. I really respect and admire you as a person. You’re incredibly talented and intelligent. I’m honored you chose me out of everybody in this world, but I don’t deserve you. The truth is, my heart still belongs to someone else. A part of my heart always has, but when you came around, I really thought I could move on, and it felt like I did. You made me feel complete and showed me what reciprocated love felt like.”

“So what — what reminded you of this old love?”

“I…”

That video of Ladybug pouring her heart out to Cat Noir did. But Adrien couldn’t tell Kagami that. 

“Who is it?”

Adrien pursed his lips together and looked away. 

“I can’t possibly think of any other person…” Kagami’s voice took on a speculative tone. 

“It’s…not anyone new. I’ve had feelings for this person for a very long time, even before I met you, but — ” 

“You can’t possibly mean  _ Ladybug!?”  _ Oh boy, Kagami was angry. He never saw this side of her because he grew to fear it.

“Kagami, please listen — ” 

“Do you have any idea how much this hurts? Living this  _ lie?  _ Was everything we had a lie, a game to you?! I’ve shown you a side of me I’ve been hiding for so long! A side that I was only going to show you! And I thought I was seeing a part of you that  _ you  _ were hiding, but you still have your secrets. You, clinging onto your boyish crush on a superhero all these years!”

As much as Adrien wanted to defend himself, he knew she was right. Of course, it was more complicated than Kagami thought, but she was still right. Adrien was clinging onto Ladybug as if he were using her yo-yo. Ladybug, who already confessed her attraction to someone else. Yet he was so enamoured that he just enjoyed her company on their adventures. Saying it was enough but always wanting more. 

“You will always have a piece of my heart, Kagami.”

“But never all of it. And I don’t think I ever did.”

“That’s not true. I still care about you, I truly enjoyed making you happy and being around you, and that’s why I’m doing this. I think it’s better to just be friends.”

“We can’t! Not after everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve done!”

“Anything’s possible.” Adrien was truly trying to be optimistic, but he felt as though he was coming off as insensitive. He offered as comforting a smile as he could. “Look, Kagami. I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to make it seem like I led you on — ” 

“Save it, Adrien. I understand what you mean very clearly now. Thanks for making my fantasies come true for a while. I hope you realize your childish crush will never be anything more: you’re not in Paris anymore, she’s probably forgotten about you, and you need to wake up from your fantasies and focus on reality  It’s for your own good.”

That was hard to believe, given the amount of malice in her voice, but Adrien didn’t take offense. She was right, and Adrien was breaking her heart by chasing after a superhero who loved someone else. But he told her the truth, and wasn’t that better than living a lie? Forcing  _ her  _ to live that lie and believing it to be truly him?

As she began to walk away, Kagami looked over her shoulder and added, “You remind me of someone. Marinette. You’re acting just like the way she used.”

“I don’t know what you could possibly mean. She was the nicest person I’d ever known.”

“You know, when I first met her, I saw the way she acted around you, and frankly, I was disgusted. I agree, she’s very nice, but that has its downsides: it made her a coward.”

“She was  _ not  _ a coward. She’s stood up for so many people on countless occasions! She puts everyone before herself!”

“And that’s  _ exactly  _ what made her such a scared little bitch! Just like you are right now!” Kagami screeched, and Adrien was so taken aback by this outburst that his anger at Kagami’s slander was overthrown by his shock. 

Kagami rarely cursed. She never screamed in rage. What kind of monster had he unlocked? 

Adrien was completely alone now, still recovering from what had happened. Kagami had stormed off, and Adrien figured it was best to leave her alone. He sat down on a bench and sighed, unclenching his fists from words left unsaid, Marinette undefended. Plagg popped out of the fur collar of Adrien’s tan faux-leather coat.

“Normally, I’d say,  _ ‘good riddance!’ _ but that was brutal,” the kwami commented.

“It’s how I feel,” Adrien said. “I had to be honest with her, and there was no way I could sugarcoat it. It hurts me, too. I hate to hurt her like this. And besides, she didn’t have to say that about Marinette.”

“I’m just glad Hawk Moth is stuck in Paris! I’m getting chills just thinking about what akuma she might have turned into.” Plagg shuddered.

“Yeah, well, there’s a bigger monster I’m afraid of,” Adrien muttered.

He knew the backlash of this would be like a thrust of a sabre into his gut. He already faced a lot of criticism for even being with Kagami, but he would face twice as much now. Just great. He needed somebody to talk to, somebody who would understand this blunt and numbing pain, somebody who would listen to him. But who?

Nino wouldn’t understand; he and Alya were  _ collège  _ sweethearts and were still going strong. Seb Corbeille, his  _ lycée  _ basketball team captain? As much as Seb constantly stretched his hand out to help Adrien, he wouldn’t understand. In their most recent text conversation a few days ago, Seb was talking to a girl from Lyon, so he was on the opposite end of the relationship line — too far to help Adrien. Most of his Oxford friends simply wanted to ride the coattails of Adrien Agreste, supermodel, and the few who truly looked past it were very much occupied with their own studies and projects. 

As if a ladybug landed on his phone, a message suddenly popped up — from Marinette.

_ “Thanks for the inspirations! Keep an eye out from some Marinette creations! Wanna see them?” _

Adrien found himself smiling. A new warmth inside him to combat the brutal cold and the new emptiness he carved out of himself. Adrien responded with his congratulations and agreed to seeing the outfits. Marinette sent a link minutes later, and Adrien scrolled through the mannequins. Adrien had to admit, he was upset he was in such a cold location since Marinette’s designs just screamed comfort, but they would be futile protection against this icy Oxford autumn. For the first time since he landed, Adrien wanted to go back to Paris. Be surrounded by people he genuinely trusted.

_ “They look great! I’d wear those in a heartbeat!”  _ He sent. In a second message, he added,  _ “I have a question about you and Luka.” _

And then the three dots popped up. Adrien’s mind started racing a mile a minute. Had he been too insensitive?

_ “Sure! Ask away.” _

Okay, this was his chance. Okay, okay, he could do this.

_ “Sorry if this sounds insensitive, but how did you and Luka break up? What was it like?” _

_ Aaaaand  _ he immediately regretted. God, how could he be so insensitive? Luka was out living his life, and he left Marinette behind; she must feel, if not heartbroken, somewhat of a longing. Adrien’s eyes remained glued to those three dots on his screen. 

After what felt an eternity, Marinette hit Adrien with a  _ wall  _ of text. 

_ “We broke up when Luka was asked to play with Jagged Stone on his world tour. Neither of us wanted to leave each other, but we both knew it would be for the better. I was chasing my dreams, and I wanted him to chase his too. Everybody in the room was crying when they watched. You remember Ivan, Juleka, and Rose, right? You were a part of Kitty Section! Of course you do! Anyway it just really hurt to let him go, but I’m happy to see him live his life.” _

“How are you gonna respond to that, huh?” Plagg asked teasingly. 

“Well, I have to be honest with her. I guess she’ll be the first to know,” Adrien told his kwami.

_ “Wow. Sounds like a happy ending, even if you guys aren’t together anymore. Was gonna ask how you got over him, but it sounds like things went smoothly.” _

_ “What’s wrong? Did something happen between you and Kagami?” _

“Oh, she’s  _ good, _ ” Plagg commented. 

“Quiet, Plagg.”

_ “Yeah, about that…we just broke up. It’s my fault, and there’s really no excuse.” _

_ “WHAT!!! WHY!?!?!” _

_ “The short answer is that my heart belongs to someone else.” _

_ “And what’s the long answer?” _

_ “The long answer is, I did love her and deeply admire her as a person, but it always felt like there was something missing to me. Again, I still had feelings for someone else. I feel awful that I broke her heart, but I couldn’t live a lie. She doesn’t deserve that, nor does she deserve me.” _

Marinette didn’t respond for the longest time. Adrien just shook his head and sighed; the sweetest person in the whole world probably hated him. Thought him cruel and heartless. He started heading back to his apartment when his phone buzzed in his pocket. 

_ “Everyone deserves a chance at what makes them happy,”  _ was the single message Marinette sent.

It was a bold statement, and Adrien found himself in stunned agreement. 

_ ‘Not me. Except me. I don’t deserve it. I lost my chance,’  _ a voice deep inside Adrien’s mind decided.

* * *

 

_ “LADYBUG! Come out! Face your fate! I am Nemeris, bringer of discord and justice! You’ll pay for what you’ve done!”  _ The voice boomed all over Paris.

Marinette leaned out the large window over her sofa in her apartment and looked around, watching people run down the streets, abandoning their vehicles. 

“This doesn’t sound good,” Marinette said to Tikki. 

“Lucky for us, Ladybug can bring harmony and justice!” The kwami offered encouragingly.

“Right. Okay! Let’s do this!” Marinette stepped away from the window. “Tikki, spots on!”

Ladybug threw open the window and flung her yo-yo out. As she flew out, she made sure to secure the window shut and continued upward among the roofs of buildings. 

Queen Bee, Rena Rouge, and Carapace met up with Ladybug at their usual rendezvous atop  the Trocadéro. 

“What’d you do  _ this _ time, Ladybug?” Queen Bee asked with a hint of frustration in her voice.

“I’m not sure…” Ladybug gazed around, searching for the source of the voice. 

“When has Ladybug ever done  _ any _ thing other than save Paris?” Rena Rouge asked challengingly, ready to defend Ladybug. 

“Let’s try and find this  _ Nemeris,  _ dudettes,” Carapace tried to bring the superheroines to focus. “She sounds wicked, and this time in the original sense.”

“Look no further!”

From the cloudy skies came down a feminine figure, completely made of a polished golden-bronze. She had wings like an angel, and she wielded a sword in one hand and an apple in the other. However, it was the short bobbed hairstyle underneath the wreath of laurel atop her head that gave away her identity.

“Kagami…” Ladybug breathed in horror.

_ “Kagami!?”  _ The other three Miraculous holders exclaimed.

_ “Wrong!” _ The akumatized Kagami screeched, shaking the whole building. “I am  _ Nemeris!  _ You’ll pay for what you’ve done! You stole something dear to me, and you  _ will  _ pay!”

“I stole  _ nothing!”  _ Ladybug defied, spinning her yo-yo. “It’s not my fault! I have no control over who likes me and who doesn’t!”

“That changes _ nothing _ !” Nemeris shouted and pointed her sword at Ladybug. “You robbed me of love! This world will know no peace! Everyone will pay!”

“Is that justice?!” Ladybug demanded. “Is that fair?”

“It’s justice to  _ me,”  _ Nemeris growled. “And when I get your Miraculous, I’ll reveal to the world how pathetic you are without your powers! Will Adrien love you then?”

A million questions raced through Ladybug’s mind. Kagami was in England, visiting Adrien. He had texted Marinette just hours ago. And now, Kagami was here, akumatized, angry, heartbroken. It was just like Lila; she came just to seek revenge against Ladybug. Kagami knew Hawk Moth would be here to akumatize her. The thought chilled Ladybug to the bone. 

Ladybug dodged a thrust of Nemeris’ sword and tried to grapple onto the arm that held the weapon. However, Nemeris tossed a golden apple back, and an explosion sent Ladybug flying off the Trocadéro. She had to use her yo-yo as a grappling hook to slow her fall. Another explosion rocked the roof, and she could see Queen Bee, Rena Rouge, and Carapace fall. Rena Rouge did a flip and landed gracefully in a squat with an extended leg. Carapace landed by spinning on his shell. Queen Bee used her top to slow her fall. 

“ _ Man _ , she’s strong! We barely lasted two seconds against her!” Carapace exclaimed.

Nemeris leapt off the building and landed a few meters in front of the hero team, breaking the concrete in her descent. She charged at Ladybug again, and Ladybug found herself dodging thrusts left and right, up and down. Ducking and jumping, leaning forwards and backwards. But Nemeris was quicker, swiping a metal leg and forcing Ladybug onto her back. Nemeris managed to straddle atop Ladybug’s stomach, pinning her down. The sword shortened to a dagger, and Nemeris raised it over her head, but a flash of orange hit her hand, causing her to let go. Ladybug turned her head, and the dagger clattered right by a pigtail. 

A flash of green appeared before her eyes, but Nemeris caught Carapace’s shield in its tracks. She gave a vicious toss back like a game of lethal frisbee, and it hit Carapace’s chest, knocking him backwards. Ladybug couldn’t roll or kick Nemeris off; she was made of bronze and too heavy. It was hard to breathe. Was this the end? 

Rena Rouge came in with a flying kick to Nemeris’ chest, which caused her to shift her weight backwards and giving Ladybug that split sliver of a second to slip free. Rena Rouge, however, rolled off to the side, grimacing in pain. She had injured that leg, Ladybug knew.

“It’s just you and me, Queen Bee,” Ladybug said as the two insect Miraculous heroines stood back to back, wielding their top and yo-yo. 

“She’s way too powerful! She can hurt us!” Queen Bee exclaimed. “What do we do!?”

“I’ll come up with something,” Ladybug reassured. “Lucky Charm!”

However, before the Lucky Charm could drop into her hand, Nemeris whisked it right out of the air, stunning Ladybug and Queen Bee. The red teapot dotted with black in Nemeris’ bronze hands.

“What is this!?” Nemeris cackled, throwing the pot. Instead of shattering as Ladybug thought, it just bounced and rolled to her feet. “You think you can beat me with a cup of tea? Ha!”

_ ‘Master Fu…’  _ Ladybug realized.

“Queen Bee, I need you to take Rena Rouge and Carapace to a safe hiding spot and wait for me,” Ladybug instructed. “I have to talk to someone.”

“What about Nemeris?” Queen Bee asked. 

“I’ll get her to chase me. Don’t worry about me.”

“I’m never worried about you,” Queen Bee confessed. “You always know what you’re doing. I just don’t know if  _ I  _ can do it.”

“I have faith in you, Queen Bee,” Ladybug reassures, smiling at her. “I let you keep the Miraculous because I believe in you.”

A smile spread across Queen Bee’s own lips. Queen Bee put on a determined face, eyebrows furrowing down but the smile still on her face.

“Thanks, Ladybug.”

“No, I should be thanking you,” Ladybug said as she began to twirl her yo-yo. “Catch me if you can, Nemeris!”

Ladybug then sprinted down towards the Pont d'Iéna, hearing the heavy yet agile steps of Nemeris closing in behind. Ladybug glanced over her shoulder to see the bronzed akuma as she leaned forward and ran. Would Ladybug even have time to whip out her yo-yo and shoot it out before Nemeris grabbed her and dragged her down?

She was running out of space. Ladybug was quickly approaching the edge of the street before it sharply dipped into the brick-covered bank of the Seine. She could barely hear Nemeris taunting her over the roaring in her ears. Right as she stepped a foot on the ledge, she gave a powerful upwards spring and arched her back to curve into a backflip right over Nemeris. While upside down, she could see Nemeris belly-flop right off the ledge, unable to stop her own momentum. Ladybug took the opportunity to run, hide inside an abandoned souvenir shop, and detransform. Tikki fell into her hands, unable to fly. 

Marinette couldn’t offer much comfort to Tikki other than quickly placing the kwami into her purse, where a couple of macarons lied. She waited until the stopping of Nemeris faded. 

“Come out, you insect!” Nemeris’ fading demands rang out. “I won’t show mercy! All of Paris will suffer because of you!”

It took everything in Marinette to stop herself just standing up, walking out into the street, and shouting,  _ “I did nothing wrong! You have a right to be angry and hurt but no right to take it out on innocent people!”  _ She had to get to Master Fu’s. 

She found the old Miraculous protector calmly meditating. 

“I’m afraid I can’t offer much help to you,” he told her the moment she opened the door. “I can only tell you one thing: she has the akuma  _ and _ the amok. I’ve seen her before, and I remember her other forms, but she is much stronger than all of this and it is because of her heartbreak and hate.”

“How is that possible?” Marinette asked, sitting down and crossing her legs in front of Master Fu. 

“The Peacock Miraculous has the power of projection, the power to Enhance. This strengthens the target not only physically but also emotionally. You can see how this can be dangerous, especially when used with an akuma, which can sense negativity.”

“But what do I do? Kagami has always been agile and strong! And now it’s  _ impossible  _ to beat her!” 

“You’ve never been so pessimistic before, Marinette, but I have faith in you. You must know that for every strength, there is an equally damaging weakness. Now,  _ go,  _ before it is too late!”

And just like that, Ladybug was out in the streets. Vehicles were flipped over, light poles were either bent or broken or knocked over entirely. Screams filled the streets, and it wouldn’t be long before Nemeris focused on destroying buildings.

Ladybug made her way to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and stood up straight. With her left hand, she swung her yo-yo; with her right, she held Marinette’s cellphone. Adrien wouldn’t know if it was Marinette or Ladybug on the other end of the line, and the conversation they recently shared could freeze Nemeris in her tracks. She pressed the little phone icon and pressed the speaker. 

_ “Marinette?”  _ was the first thing Adrien burst, causing Ladybug to fumble her phone a few times.  _ “Is everything alright? I’m seeing the news, and I — ” _

“Yes, Adrien, it’s me,” Ladybug said. “I have some more questions. About what we talked about last time.”

_ “Oh! I’m guessing you’re safe then. Well, ask away.” _

“Do you remember my last message? You never responded. About everybody deserving a chance at happiness. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Ah-ha! I’ve got you now, La — ” Nemeris declared as she leapt down, only for Adrien’s voice to stop her in her tracks like the statue she appeared to be.

_ “I didn’t respond because I couldn’t agree. Personally, I don’t think I deserve happiness after what I did to Kagami.” _

Ladybug felt her own heart shatter upon hearing those words.

“Adrien?” Nemeris breathed, her eyes wide and full of heartbroken hope — the saddest look Ladybug had seen on anybody.

_ “I broke her heart, and I have to own up to it. I know she loves me, and I love her, but not in the same way. I’m heartbroken, too, knowing how much I’ve hurt her, but I only wanted what was best for her, and it wasn’t me.” _

“No...no...you are…!” Nemeris fell to her knees, tears of gold resembling ichor spilling from her metallic face. 

“It’s never too late to tell her that, you know,” Ladybug said. 

_ “I doubt she’d ever want to see me or hear from me ever again. I don’t blame her.” _

“That’s not true…!” Everything Nemeris said came out in a hushed, breathy voice almost as if she knew the conversation going on was private, not meant for her ears. Ladybug wanted to hand the phone to her when she saw the tears streaming down Nemeris’ face. 

_ “Listen, Mar — ”  _ Ladybug fumbled to turn off the speaker as Nemeris began to sob into her hands. She then pressed the phone to her ear.  _ “ — ette. I have to go, but send me a message when the akuma’s captured! I’d like to catch up sometime.” _

“Yeah, of course!” Ladybug’s heart swelled. “Have fun! Bye!”

When Ladybug pulled her phone away, Adrien had already hung up. Ladybug could hear Nemeris trying to stifle her sobs and immediately put the phone away. She walked over and knelt down beside the akumatized Kagami, placing a hand on her shoulder. She noticed the sword and the apple now on the floor.

“Do you understand now?” Ladybug asked her. “He still cares about you.”

Ladybug kicked away the apple and slowly picked up the sword. Her eyes remained on Nemeris as the akuma’s breathing grew heavier and faster. Ladybug had to act quick; she used the sword to break the apple, snapping the sword in two and splitting the apple right down the middle right as Nemeris jumped at her. The two women rolled off each other, but Nemeris fell still as the akuma and the amok flew out of the sword and the apple, respectively. 

“Time to de-evilize!” Ladybug exclaimed, grabbing both the violet akuma and the indigo amok from the air and into her yo-yo. “Bye-bye, little butterfly! Farewell, little feather!” Out flew the white butterfly and white down feather.

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

A swarm of pink and red swirled all over Paris, and Nemeris became Kagami again. When Ladybug knelt down beside her, Kagami shrugged her off.

“Listen, you might not remember what Adrien told you, but he wants you to know that he still cares about you and that he felt as though he didn’t deserve you.”

“How could anyone else deserve me!?” Kagami shouted, pushing Ladybug further away. 

“He said that he only wanted what was best for you, but that best wasn’t him,” Ladybug tried again. “He loves you, but in a different way. Isn’t that better than him not wanting to be around you? Do you think he would like it if he knew he was behind all of your akumatizations? Have you ever thought about how  _ he  _ feels? He’s hurting on the inside, too. I know that there’s no going back from everything he’s done, but it’s up to you to determine the path ahead.”

Kagami looked at Ladybug with wide brown eyes, and Ladybug could see how swollen and red they were, how the tears still lined them now. 

“I’d like to go back to the airport. I need to head back to Japan,” Kagami said, wiping her tears with the back of her index finger and looking down at her phone.

“Need a lift?” Ladybug offered, swinging her yo-yo. 

Kagami looked up at Ladybug again and… _ smiled.  _ Well, it was a thin stretch of her lips but a smile nonetheless! 

“Thank you, but I’ll just get a cab. I need to book a ticket, too,” she said. 

“Have a safe trip!” Ladybug bid. When she threw out her yo-yo and felt the string pull itself taut, she turned to Kagami, seeing her head down the stairs of the Arc. “Oh, and Kagami?”

The young woman, agile and lean under her elegant clothes and sleek black hair — only to have the clean appearance disrupted by her heartbroken face —, faced Ladybug completely.

“You  _ will _ find someone you belong to,” Ladybug said with a warm smile. “Love isn’t always easy, but that’s what makes it worth it in the end.”

Kagami gave her slight smile and responded, “Thank you, Ladybug. Do you have someone, then?”

“ _ Ahhhh,  _ no.” Ladybug smiled sheepishly. “But my heart does belong to someone.”

“I hope one day theirs belongs to you then,” Kagami bid before walking away. Not one hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Ladybug was stunned. As she soared through Paris, she realized that her image of Kagami had all been wrong. Kagami was probably just lonely, suffering under the pressure of her family and held to an impossibly high standard —  _ lived  _ by it. It became obvious as to why Kagami believed Adrien was the one for her, but many great men existed in this world, and maybe Kagami would be able to see that now. Find the man she belonged to and the man to her. 

_ ‘Still…!’  _ Marinette giggled to herself as she fell back onto her bed in her loft apartment.  _ ‘Now I actually stand a chance!’ _

And just like that, Marinette was seeing hearts again. Was that too cruel of her? 

Her phone buzzed, snapping her out of her daydream. She flipped onto her stomach and reached for her phone on the dresser. 

_ “Everything okay?”  _ Adrien sent.

_ “Ladybug saves the day, yet again!”  _ Marinette sent back. 

_ “As always!” _ Adrien replied before adding,  _ “I wish Oxford had its own Ladybug.” _

Marinette didn’t know how long she spent texting him, but she woke up to the sound of her alarm going off. Her phone was plugged in, charging, with Tikki curled up on top of it.

_ ‘Was it all a dream?’  _ Marinette wondered, almost disappointedly. 

However, all the messages were there — some bits Marinette didn’t even remember. The very last message in the conversation was from Adrien at around 2 AM and sent about two hours after when Marinette assumed she fell asleep. 

_ “Yeah, cramming four years into three was hard. But hey! I get to come home sooner. _

_ “Guess that means you’re asleep! Sweet dreams, Marinette!” _

And just like that, Marinette’s heart felt lighter, her steps bouncier, her smiles brighter. She was seeing pink again, reviving that old  _ collège  _ crush but this time Marinette wanted to make things right!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *”The world, an oyster” and “its sites, its pearl” in French
> 
> A/N: SO as I was finishing up this chapter, I was watching Miraculer, and let me just say (spoilers!) HOLY HECC! I mean I was kind of right about Mayura’s powers? It definitely enhances emotions, but before all that, my headcanon is that Mayura’s amoks (learned the canon name haha) allows a person to use their emotions as fuel, in a way. This chapter is extra long, and they will probably get longer bc LVeR only has so many lyrics! Till next time!


End file.
